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STORIES or 

LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



Pioneers on the Overland Route, Westward 











STORIES OF 

LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


/ 


BY 

. rS* 

WILBUR F." GORDY 

FORMERLY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, SPRINGFIELD, MASS.; AUTHOR OF “ A HISTORY OF THF 
UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS,” “ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES,” 
“AMERICAN LEADERS AND HEROES,” “AMERICAN BEGINNINGS IN EUROPE,” 

“STORIES OF AMERICAN EXPLORERS,” “COLONIAL DAYS,” AND 
“ STORIES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY ” 


WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 


) 

* ) 

r> * > 

> > 

V 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 


NEW YORK 


CHICAGO 


BOSTON 


El 17s 

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.G ^ 

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Copyright, 1915 , 1923 , by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 



A 

AUG I > 1923 

© Cl A 7 5 2 4 3 6 

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/ 


PREFACE 


This book, like “ Stories of Early American History,” 
follows somewhat closely the course of study prepared by 
the Committee of Eight, the present volume covering the 
topics outlined for Grade V, while the earlier one includes 
the material suggested for Grade IV. 

It was the plan of that committee to take up in these 
grades, largely in a biographical way, a great part of the 
essential facts of American history; and with this plan the 
author, who was a member of that committee, was in 
hearty accord. This method, it is believed, serves a double 
purpose. In the first place, it is the best possible way of 
laying the foundation for the later and more detailed study 
of United States history in the higher grammar grades by 
those pupils who are to continue in school; and in the second, 
it gives to that large number of pupils who will leave school 
before the end of the sixth grade—which is at least half of 
all the boys and girls in the schools of the country—some 
acquaintance with the leading men and prominent events 
of American history. 

It is without doubt a great mistake to allow half of the 
pupils to go out from our public schools with almost no 
knowledge of the moral and material forces which have 
made this nation what it is to-day. It is an injustice to 
the young people themselves; it is also an injury to their 
country, the vigor of whose life will depend much upon their 
intelligent and patriotic support. 


VI 


PREFACE 


With this conviction, it has been the authors desire to 
make the story of the events concrete, dramatic, and lifelike 
by centring them about leaders, heroes, and other represen¬ 
tative men and women, and thus to appeal to the imagination 
and to influence the ideals of the child. In so doing, he has 
made no attempt to write organized history—tracing out its 
intricate relations of cause and effect. At the same time, 
however, he has aimed to select his facts and events so care¬ 
fully that the spirit of our national life and institutions, as 
well as many of the typical events of American history, 
may be presented. 

It is confidently hoped that the fine illustrations and the 
attractive typographical features of the book will help to 
bring vividly before the mind of the child the events 
narrated in the text. 

Another aid in making the stories vivid will, it is in¬ 
tended, be found in “ Some Things to Think About.” These 
and many similar questions, which the teacher can easily 
frame to fit the needs of her class, will help the pupil to 
make real the life of days gone by as well as to connect it 
with the present time and with his own life. 

In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge my deep obli¬ 
gations to Mr. Forrest Morgan, of the Watkinson Library, 
Hartford, and to Miss Elizabeth P. Peck, of the Hartford 
Public High School, both of whom have read the manu¬ 
script and have made many valuable criticisms and sug¬ 
gestions. 

Wilbur F. Gordy. 

Hartford, Conn. • 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 
XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 


Patrick Henry. 

Samuel Adams. 

The War Begins near Boston. 

George Washington in the Revolution. 

Nathanael Greene and Other Heroes in the South 

John Paul Jones. 

Daniel Boone. 

James Robertson. 

John Sevier. 

George Rogers Clark . 

The New Republic. 

Increasing the Size of the New Republic. 

Internal Improvements. 

The Republic Grows Larger. 

Three Great Statesmen. 

The Civil War. 

Leaders in the Opening of the Great West . . . 

Leaders and Workers in the Great West. 


PAGE 

I 

15 

30 

45 

73 

87 

94 

107 

122 

132 

151 

164 

187 

208 

225 

243 

281 

291 


Two Leaders in the Political Life of the Nation at the 

Close of the Century. 

vii 


299 
















CONTENTS 


• • • 

vi n 

CHAPTER 

XX. Leaders in a New World of Science and Invention 

XXL Recent Leaders in the Social and Political Life of Our 
Country . 

XXII. The Heritage of American Boys and Girls To-Day . . 


PAGE 

310 

323 

359 


Index 


365 




ILLUSTRATIONS 


Pioneers on the Overland Route, Westward. Frontispiece 

PAGE 

George III. 2 

Patrick Henry. 5 

Patrick Henry Delivering His Speech in the Virginia House of Burgesses 7 

William Pitt. 9 

St. John’s Church, Richmond.11 

Samuel Adams .15 

Patriots in New York Destroying Stamps Intended for Use in Con¬ 
necticut .17 

Faneuil Hall, Boston..22 

Old South Church, Boston.23 

The “Boston Tea Party”. 24 

Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia . . . . ..27 

John Hancock.30 

John Hancock’s Home, Boston.31 

A Minuteman. 32 

Old North Church. 33 

Paul Revere’s Ride.34 

Monument on Lexington Common Marking the Line of the Minutemen 36 

Concord Bridge.39 

President Langdon, the President of Harvard College, Praying for the 
Bunker Hill Entrenching Party on Cambridge Common Just Before 
Their Departure.41 

Prescott at Bunker Hill.42 

IX 




















X 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGTl 

Bunker Hill Monument. 43 

George Washington.45 

Washington, Henry, and Pendleton on the Way to Congress at Phila¬ 
delphia .47 

The Washington Elm at Cambridge, under which Washington took 

Command of the Army.48 

Sir William Howe.51 

Thomas Jefferson Looking Over the Rough Draught of the Declaration 

of Independence.52 

The Retreat from Long Island.54 

Nathan Hale.57 

British and Hessian Soldiers.61 

Powder-Horn, Bullet-Flask, and Buckshot-Pouch Used in the Revolution 63 

General Burgoyne Surrendering to General Gates.65 

Marquis de Lafayette.67 

Lafayette Offering His Services to Franklin.68 

Winter at Valley Forge.70 

Nathanael Greene.73 

The Meeting of Greene and Gates upon Greene’s Assuming Command . 77 

Daniel Morgan.79 

Francis Marion . .*.82 

Marion Surprising a British Wagon-Train.83 

John Paul Jones.87 

Battle Between the Ranger and the Drake.89 

The Fight Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis .... 92 

Daniel Boone.95 

Boone’s Escape from the Indians.97 

Boonesborough . ..101 
























\ 

ILLUSTRATIONS xi 

page: 

Boone Throwing Tobacco into the Eyes of the Indians Who Had Come 

to Capture Him.105 

James Robertson.107 

Living-Room of the Early Settler.Ill 

Grinding Indian Corn. 112 

A Kentucky Pioneer’s Cabin.115 

John Sevier.122 

A Barbecue of 1780 .*. 127 

Battle of King’s Mountain.129 

George Rogers Clark.132 

Clark on the Way to Kaskaskia.137 

Clark’s Surprise at Kaskaskia ..138 

Wampum Peace Belt.142 

Clark’s Advance on Vincennes.146 

George Washington.151 

Washington’s Home, Mount Vernon.152 

Tribute Rendered to Washington at Trenton.153 

Washington Taking the Oath of Office as First President, at Federal 

Hall, New York City.155 

Washington’s Inaugural Chair.156 

Eh Whitney ... . ..158 

Whitney’s Cotton-Gin. 159 

A Colonial Planter.161 

A Slave Settlement.162 

Thomas Jefferson.164 

“Monticello,” the Home of Jefferson . . . ..165 

A Rice-Field in Louisiana.168 



























ILLUSTRATIONS 


xii 

PAG* 

A Flatboat on the Ohio River.171 

House in New Orleans Where Louis Philippe Stopped in 1798 . . . 173 

A Public Building in New Orleans Built in 1794 . 174 

Meriwether Lewis.176 

William Clark.176 

Buffalo Hunted by Indians.177 

The Lewis and Clark Expedition Working Its Way Westward . . . 179 

Andrew Jackson.181 

“The Hermitage,” the Home of Andrew Jackson.183 

Fighting the Seminole Indians, under Jackson.184 

Robert Fulton.188 

Fulton’s First Experiment with Paddle-Wheels.189 

The “Clermont” in Duplicate at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 1909 . 192 

The Opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 . 194 

The Ceremony Called “The Marriage of the Waters”.195 

Erie Canal on the Right and Aqueduct over the Mohawk River, New 

York.197 

“Tom Thumb,” Peter Cooper’s Locomotive Working Model, First 

Used near Baltimore in 1830 198 

Railroad Poster of 1843 . 199 

Comparison of “DeWitt Clinton” Locomotive and Train, the First 
Train Operated in New York, with a Modern Locomotive of the 
New York Central R. R.200 

S. F. B. Morse.202 

The First Telegraph Instrument.203 

Modern Telegraph Office. 204 

The Operation of the Modern Railroad is Dependent upon the Telegraph 205 

Sam Houston . . . . ..208 






















ILLUSTRATIONS 


xm 


PAGE 

Flag of the Republic of Texas.211 

David Crockett.212 

The Fight at the Alamo.213 

John C. Fremont.215 

Fremont’s Expedition Crossing the Rocky Mountains.216 

Kit Carson. 217 

Sutter’s Mill. 221 

Placer-Mining in the Days of the California Gold Rush.223 

John C. Calhoun. 225 

Calhoun’s Office and Library.226 

Henry Clay.228 

The Birthplace of Henry Clay, near Richmond ......... 228 

The Schoolhouse in “the Slashes’’. «... 229 

Daniel Webster.232 

The Home of Daniel Webster, Marshfield, Mass.236 

Henry Clay Addressing the United States Senate in 1850 . 239 

Abraham Lincoln.243 

Lincoln’s Birthplace. 244 

Lincoln Studying by Firelight.246 

Lincoln Splitting Rails. 248 

Lincoln as a Boatman.249 

Lincoln Visiting Wounded Soldiers.253 

Robert E. Lee. 255 

Lee’s Home at Arlington, Virginia . 256 

Jefferson Davis ... ».257 

Thomas J. Jackson.258 



























XIV 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


A Confederate Flag. 

J. E. B. Stuart. 

Confederate Soldiers. 

Union Soldiers.... 

Ulysses S. Grant. 

Grant’s Birthplace, Point Pleasant, Ohio. 

General and Mrs. Grant with Their Son at City Point, Virginia . . . 

William Tecumseh Sherman. 

Sherman’s March to the Sea. 

Philip H. Sheridan. 

Sheridan Rallying His Troops. 

1 he McLean House Where Lee Surrendered. 


258 

259 

260 
262 

263 

264 
266 
268 
269 

272 

273 
275 


General Lee on His Horse, Traveller.278 

Prospectors on Their Way West.284 

Driving the Last Spike of the Union Pacific—Promontory Point, Utah, 

May 10, 1869 .. 287 

James J. Hill.. . 289 

A Cowpuncher Breaking in a Mustang.292 


Cactus in the Arizona Desert, Now a Fertile Country Through Irrigation 294 
A High-Line Canal or Flume—Part of the Yakima Project, Washington 295 


Roosevelt Dam, Salt River Valley, Arizona.296 

Land Irrigated by the Roosevelt Dam—Furrow Irrigation in an Orange 

Grove in the Salt River Valley Country.297 

Grover Cleveland.300 

President McKinley at Quincy, Ill.302 

Cuban Refugees Under Spanish Rule , , , , ..304 























ILLUSTRATIONS xv 

PAGE 

President McKinley and Admiral Dewey Reviewing the Soldiers and 

Sailors from the Steps of the Capitol.305 

American Troops Embarking for Santiago.306 

Camp of the Rough Riders at Daiquiri During the Spanish-American 

War.307 

Judge Day, Secretary of State, Signing the Peace Protocol Between the 

United States and Spain, August 12, 1898 . 308 

Thomas Edison and His First Phonograph.311 

Edison’s Menlo Park Electric Locomotive, 1880 312 

Thomas Edison at Work in His Laboratory at Orange, N. J.313 

On June 2, 1875, Alexander Graham Bell and His Assistant, Thomas A. 
Watson, During Some Experiments, Discovered the Principle of the 
Electric Speaking Telephone.314 

The Inventor of the Telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, Opening the 

New York-Chicago Long Distance Telephone Line, October 18, 1892 315 

United States Mail Rural Motor-Truck Service . . . . ' . . . . 317 

Farmer Listening to Market and Weather Reports on Radio .... 318 

Luther Burbank.319 

Burbank’s Spineless Cactus Slab, with Fruit in Stages of Ripening . . 320 

The Dresden Literary American Club Which the Roosevelts Formed 

While Abroad. 324 

Theodore Roosevelt, Twenty-one Years of Age, and His Brother Elliott 

Roosevelt, One Year Younger.326 

Uniting the Atlantic and the Pacific.330 

Theodore Roosevelt Reviewing American Troops Before the New York 

Public Library.331 

Frances Willard.333 

Clara Barton.336 

The Red Cross in War-Time. 338 


















xvi ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Many Families Joined the Westward Movement to New Country . . 340 

Doctor Anna Howard Shaw.342 

Woodrow Wilson, President of Princeton University, with Professor 

William Libbey and Andrew Carnegie.345 

Woodrow Wilson.347 


President Wilson Delivering His War Message to Congress, April 2, 1917 349 

Launching of S. S. Tacoma.350 

American Troops Resting After Their Arrival in France.352 

Allied Troops Transporting Ammunition to the Guns in the Somme 

Country.353 

Allied Cavalry Cutting Out a German Gun in a French Village . . . 354 

Government Officers Superintending the Assembling of tb& Liberty 

Motors.356 


MAPS 

PAGE 

Boston and Vicinity.38 

The War in the Middle States.59 

The War in the South.. 75 


Early Settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee. 109 

George Rogers Clark in the Northwest.136 


The United States in 1803, after the Louisiana Purchase (Colored) 

Facing Page 172 


Jackson’s Campaign.185 

Scene of Houston’s Campaign.210 


Fremont’s Western Explorations.219 

Map of the United States Showing First and Second Secession Areas 

(Colored)... Between pages 254-255 

Route of Sherman’s March to the Sea.270 

The Country Around Washington and Richmond ..276 




















STORIES OF 

LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


CHAPTER I 
PATRICK HENRY 

The Last French War had cost England so much that 
at its close she was heavily in debt. 

“As England must now send to America a standing army 
of at least ten thousand men to protect the colonies against 
the Indians and other enemies/’ the King, George III, 
reasoned, “it is only fair that the colonists should pay a 
part of the cost of supporting it.” 

The English Parliament, being largely made up of the 
King’s friends, was quite ready to carry out his wishes, 
and passed a law taxing the colonists. This law was 
called the Stamp Act. It provided that stamps—very 
much like our postage-stamps, but costing all the way 
from one cent to fifty dollars each—should be put upon all 
the newspapers and almanacs used by the colonies, and 
upon all such legal papers as wills, deeds, and the notes 
which men give promising to pay back borrowed money. 

When news of this act reached the colonists they were 
angry. “It is unjust,” they said. “Parliament is trying 


2 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


to make slaves of us by forcing us to pay money with¬ 
out our consent. The charters which the English King 



George III. 


granted to our forefathers when they came to America make 
us free men just as much as if we were living in England. 

“In England it is the law that no free man shall pay 
taxes unless they are levied by his representatives in Parlia- 









PATRICK HENRY 


3 


ment. We have no one to speak for us in Parliament, 
and so we will not pay any taxes which Parliament votes. 
The only taxes we will pay are those voted by our repre¬ 
sentatives in our own colonial assemblies / 7 

They were all the more ready to take this stand because 
for many years they had bitterly disliked other English 
laws which were unfair to them. One of these forbade 
selling their products to any country but England. And, 
of course, if they could sell to no one else, they would have 
to sell for what the English merchants chose to pay. 

Another law said that the colonists should buy the 
goods they needed from no other country than England, 
and that these goods should be brought over in English 
vessels. So in buying as well as in selling they were at 
the mercy of the English merchants and the English ship 
owners, who could set their own prices. 

But even more unjust seemed the law forbidding the 
manufacture in America of anything which was manufac¬ 
tured in England. For instance, iron from American 
mines had to be sent to England to be made into useful 
articles, and then brought back over the sea in English 
vessels and sold to the colonists by English merchants at 
their own price. 

Do you wonder that the colonists felt that England 
was taking an unfair advantage? You need not be told 
that these laws were strongly opposed. In fact, the col¬ 
onists, thinking them unjust, did not hesitate to break 


4 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


them. Some, in spite of the laws, shipped their products 
to other countries and smuggled the goods they received 
in exchange; and some dared make articles of iron, wool, or 
other raw material, both for their own use and to sell to 
others. 

“We will not be used as tools for England to make 
out of us all the profit she possibly can/ 7 they declared. 
“We are not slaves but free-born Englishmen, and we 
refuse to obey laws which shackle us and rob us of our 
rights.” 

So when to these harsh trade laws the Stamp Act was 
added, great indignation was aroused. Among those most 
earnest in opposing the act was Patrick Henry. 

Let us take a look at the early life of this powerful 
man. He was born in 1736, in Hanover County, Virginia. 
His father was an able lawyer, and his mother belonged to 
a fine old Welsh family. 

But Patrick, as a boy, took little interest in anything 
that seemed to his older friends worth while. He did not 
like to study nor to work on his father’s farm. His delight 
was to wander through the woods, gun in hand, hunting 
for game, or to sit on the bank of some stream fishing by 
the hour. When not enjoying himself out-of-doors he 
might be heard playing his violin. 

Of course the neighbors said, “A boy so idle and shift¬ 
less will never amount to anything,” and his parents did 
not know what to do with him. They put him, when fif- 


PATRICK HENRY 


5 


teen years old, as clerk into a little country store. Here he 
remained for a year, and then opened a store of his own. 
But he was still too lazy to attend to business, and soon 
failed. 


When he was only eighteen years old, he married. The 
parents of the young couple, anxious that they should ic 
well, gave them a small farm and 
a few slaves. But it was the same 
old story. The young farmer would 
not take the trouble to look after 
his affairs, and let things drift. So 
before long the farm had to be sold 
to pay debts. Once more Patrick 
turned to storekeeping, but after a 
few years he failed again. 

He was now twenty-three years 
old, with no settled occupation, and with a wife and family 
to support. No doubt he seemed to his friends a ne’er- 
do-well. 



About this time he decided to become a lawyer. He 
borrowed some law-books, and after studying for six months, 
he applied for permission to practise law. Although he 
passed but a poor examination, he at last was started on 
the right road. 

He succeeded well in his law practice, and in a few 
years had so much business that people in his part of 
Virginia began to take notice of him. In 1765, soon after 




6 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


the Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament, he 
was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, 
a body not unlike our State Legislature. 

PATRICK henry’s FIERY SPEECH AGAINST THE 

STAMP ACT 

History gives us a vivid picture of the young lawyer 
at this time as he rides on horseback along the country 
road toward Williamsburg, then the capital of Virginia. 
He is wearing a faded coat, leather knee-breeches, and 
yarn stockings, and carries his law papers in his saddle-bag. 
Although but twenty-nine, his tall, thin figure stoops as 
if bent with age. He does not look the important man 
he is soon to become. 

When he reaches the little town of Williamsburg, he 
finds great excitement. Men gather in small groups on 
the street, talking in anxious tones. Serious questions are 
being discussed: “What shall we do about the Stamp 
Act?” they say. “Shall we submit and say nothing? 
Shall we send a petition to King George asking him for 
justice? Shall we beg Parliament to repeal the act, or 
shall we take a bold stand and declare that we will not 
obey it?” 

Not only on the street, but also in the House of Bur¬ 
gesses was great excitement. Most of the members were 
wealthy planters who lived on great estates. So much 
weight and dignity had they that the affairs of the colony 


PATRICK HENRY 


7 


were largely under their control. Most of them were loyal 
to the “ mother country,” as they liked to call England, 



Patrick Henry Delivering His Speech in the Virginia House of 

Burgesses. 

and they wished to obey the English laws as long as these 
were just. 

So they counselled: “Let us move slowly. Let nothing 
be done in a passion. Let us petition the King to modify 












8 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


the laws which appear to us unjust, and then, if he will not 
listen, it will be time to refuse to obey. We must not be 
rash.” 

Patrick Henry, the new member, listened earnestly. 
But he could not see things as these older men of affairs 
saw them. To him delay seemed dangerous. He was 
eager for prompt, decisive action. Tearing a blank leaf 
from a law-book, he hastily wrote some resolutions, and, 
rising to his feet, he read them to the assembly. 

We can easily picture the scene. This plainly dressed 
rustic with his bent shoulders is in striking contrast to 
the prosperous plantation owners, with their powdered hair, 
ruffled shirts, knee-breeches, and silver shoe-buckles. They 
give but a listless attention as Henry begins in quiet tones 
to read his resolutions. “Who cares what this country 
fellow thinks?” is their attitude. “Who is he anyway? 
We never heard his voice before.” 

It is but natural that these men, whose judgment has 
been looked up to for years, should regard as an upstart 
this young, unknown member, who presumes to think his 
opinion worth listening to in a time of great crisis like this. 

But while they sit in scornful wrath, the young orator’s 
eyes begin to glow, his stooping figure becomes erect, and 
his voice rings out with fiery eloquence. “The General 
Assembly of Virginia, and only the General Assembly of 
Virginia,” he exclaims, “has the right and the power of 
laying taxes upon the people of this colony.” 


PATRICK HENRY 


9 


These are stirring words, and they fall amid a hushed 
silence. Then the debate grows hot, as members rise to 
speak in opposition to his burning eloquence. 

But our hero is more than a match for all the distin¬ 
guished men who disagree with him. Like a torrent, his 
arguments pour forth and sweep 
all before them. The bold reso¬ 
lutions he presents are passed by 
the assembly. 

It was a great triumph for 
the young orator. On that day 
Patrick Henry made his name. 

“ Stick to us, old fellow, or we’re 
gone,” said one of the plain 
people, giving him a slap on the 
shoulder as he passed out at the 
close of the stormy session. The unpromising youth had 
suddenly become a leader in the affairs of the colony. 

Not only in Virginia, but also in other colonies, his 
fiery words acted like magic in stirring up the people against 
the Stamp Act. He had proved himself a bold leader, will¬ 
ing to risk any danger for the cause of justice and freedom. 

You would expect that in the colonies there would be 
strong and deep feeling against the Stamp Act. But per¬ 
haps you will be surprised to learn that even in England 
many leading men opposed it. They thought that George 
III was making a great mistake in trying to tax the colo- 



William Pitt. 




10 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


nies without their consent. William Pitt, a leader in the 
House of Commons, made a great speech, in which he 
said: “I rejoice that America has resisted.” He went on 
to say that if the Americans had meekly submitted, they 
would have acted like slaves. 

Burke and Fox, other great statesmen, also befriended 
us. And the English merchants and ship owners, who 
were losing heavily because the Americans refused to buy 
any English goods as long as the Stamp Act was in force, 
joined in begging Parliament that the act be repealed. 
This was done the next year. 

Other unjust measures followed, but before we take 
them up, let us catch another glimpse of Patrick Henry, 
ten years after his great speech at Williamsburg. 

ANOTHER GREAT SPEECH BY PATRICK HENRY 

The people of Virginia are again greatly aroused. . King 
George has caused Parliament to send English soldiers to 
Boston to force the unruly people of Massachusetts to 
obey some of his commands, against which they had re¬ 
belled. Virginia has stood by her sister colony, and now 
the royal governor of Virginia, to punish her, has prevented 
the House of Burgesses from meeting at Williamsburg. 

But the Virginians are not so easily kept from doing 
their duty. With a grim determination to defend their 
rights as free men, they elect some of their leaders to act 
for them at this trying time. 


I 


PATRICK HENRY 


11 


These meet in Richmond at old St. John’s Church, 
which is still standing. Great is the excitement, and 
thoughtful people are very serious, for the shadows of the 
war-cloud grow blacker hour by hour. 

The Virginians have already begun to make ready to 
fight if they must. But many still hope that all disagree¬ 
ments may yet be set¬ 
tled peaceably, and 
therefore advise acting 
with caution. 

Patrick Henry is 
not one of these. He 
believes that the time 
has come when talk- 

. . SC John’s Church, Richmond. 

mg should give place 

to prompt, decisive action. The war is at hand. It cannot 
be avoided. The colonists must fight or slavishly submit. 

So intense is his belief that he offers in this meeting a 
resolution that Virginia should at once prepare to defend 
herself. Many of the leading men stoutly oppose this reso¬ 
lution as rash and unwise. 

At length Patrick Henry rises to his feet, his face pale, 
and his voice trembling with deep emotion. Again we see 
the bent shoulders straighten and the eyes flash. His 
voice rings out like a trumpet. As he goes on with increas¬ 
ing power, men lean forward in breathless interest. Listen 
to his ringing words: 


























12 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


“We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An 
appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left 
us! They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope 
with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be 
stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? 
Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a Brit¬ 
ish guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we 
gather strength by irresolution and inaction ? Shall we ac¬ 
quire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely 
on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, 
until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot ? Sir, 
we are not weak if we make a proper use of the means 
which the God of nature hath placed in our hands. . . . 
There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our 
chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the 
plains of Boston ! The war is inevitable—and let it come! 
I repeat it, sir, let it come! 

. . Gentlemen may cry peace, peace—but there is no 
peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that 
sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of 
resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! 
Why stand we here idle ? What is it that gentlemen wish ? 
What would they have ? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, 
as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? 
Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others 
may take; but as for me, give me liberty, 
death \” 


or give me 


PATRICK HENRY 


13 


What wonder that the audience sways to his belief! 

He was a true prophet, for in less than four weeks the 
first gun of the Revolution was fired in the quiet town of 
Lexington, Massachusetts. Undoubtedly Patrick Henry’s 
fiery spirit had done much to kindle the flame which then 
burst forth. 

Not long after this, he was made commander-in-chief 
of the Virginia forces (1775), and the next year was elected 
governor of Virginia. 

When the war—in the declaring of which he had taken 
so active a part—was over, Patrick Henry retired at the 
age of fifty-eight (1794), to an estate in Charlotte County 
called “Red Hill,” where he lived a simple and beautiful 
life. He died in 1799. 

Without doubt he was one of the most eloquent orators 
our country has ever produced, and we should be grateful 
to him because he used his great gift in helping to secure 
the freedom we now enjoy. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What was the Stamp Act? Why did Parliament pass it, and 

why did the colonists object to it? 

2. What did Patrick Henry mean by saying that the General As¬ 

sembly of Virginia, and only the General Assembly of Virginia 
had the right and the power of laying taxes upon the people 
of that colony ? 

3. Have you in your mind a picture of young Patrick Henry as he 

rode on horseback along the country road toward Williams¬ 
burg ? Describe this picture as clearly as you can. 



14 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


4. What did William Pitt think of the Stamp Act ? Why did Parlia¬ 

ment repeal it ? 

5. Can you explain Patrick Henry’s power as an orator? When did 

he make a great speech in St. John’s Church, Richmond ? 

6. What do you admire in Patrick Henry ? 

7. Do not fail to locate every event upon your map. 


CHAPTER II 


SAMUEL ADAMS 

While Patrick Henry was leading the people of Vir¬ 
ginia in their defiance of the Stamp Act, exciting events 
were taking place in Massachusetts under another colonial 
leader. This was Samuel Adams. Even before Virginia took 
any action, he had introduced in the Massachusetts Assembly 
resolutions opposing the Stamp Act, and they were passed. 

This man, who did more than any one else to arouse 
the love of liberty in his colony, was born in Boston in 1722. 
His boyhood was quite different 
from that of Patrick Hemy. Pie 
liked to go to school and to learn 
from books, and he cared little for 
outdoor life or sport of any kind. 

As he grew up, his father wished 
him to become a clergyman, but 
Samuel preferred to study law. 

His mother opposing this, how¬ 
ever, he entered upon business life. 

This perhaps was a mistake, for he did not take to busi¬ 
ness, and, like Patrick Henry, he soon failed, even losing 

most of the property his father had left him. 

15 



16 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


SAMUEL ADAMS AN INSPIRING LEADER 

But although not skilful in managing his own affairs, 
he was a most loyal and successful worker for the interests 
of the colony. In fact, before long, he gave up most of his 
private business and spent his time and strength for the 
public welfare. 

His whole income was the very small salary which he 
received as clerk of the Assembly of Massachusetts. This 
was hardly sufficient to pay for the food needed in his 
household. But his wife was so thrifty and cheerful, and 
his friends so glad to help him out because of the time he 
gave to public affairs, that his home life, though plain, was 
comfortable, and his children were well brought up. 

Poor as he was, no man could be more upright. The 
British, fearing his influence, tried at different times to 
bribe him with office under the King and to buy him with 
gold. But he scorned any such attempts to turn him aside 
from the path of duty. 

The great purpose of his life seemed to be to encourage 
the colonists to stand up for their rights as freemen, and to 
defeat the plans of King George and Parliament in trying 
to force the colonists to pay taxes. In this he was busy 
night and day. In the assembly and in the town meeting 
all looked to him as an able leader; and in the workshops, 
on the streets, or in the shipyards men listened eagerly 
while he made clear the aims of the English King, and 
urged them to defend their rights as free-born Englishmen. 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


17 



Even at the close of a busy day, this earnest, liberty- 
loving man gave himself little rest. Sometimes he was 
writing articles for 
the newspapers, 
and sometimes 
urgent letters to 
the various leaders 
in Massachusetts 
and in the other 
colonies. Long 
after midnight, 
those who passed 
his dimly lighted 
windows could see 
“ Sam Adams hard 
at work writing 
against the Tories. ’ ’ 

Had you seen 
him at this time, 
you would never 
have thought of 
him as a remark¬ 
able man. He was of medium size, with keen gray eyes, 
and hair already fast turning white. His head and hands 
trembled as if with age, though he was only forty-two years 
old and in good health. 

He was a great power in the colony. Not only did he 


Patriots in New York Destroying Stamps Intended 
for Use in Connecticut. 


3 











18 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


rouse, the people against the Stamp Act ; but he helped to 
organize, in opposition to it, societies of patriots called 
“Sons of Liberty/ 7 who refused to use the stamps and often 
destroyed them. In Massachusetts, as in Virginia and else¬ 
where, the people refused to buy any English goods until 
this hateful act was repealed. 

At the close of a year, before it had really been put 
into operation, the act was repealed, as we have already 
seen. But this did not happen until many resolutions had 
been passed, many appeals made to the King, and after 
much excitement. Then great was the rejoicing! In every 
town in the country bonfires were lighted, and every colo¬ 
nial assembly sent thanks to the King. 

But the obstinate, power-loving George III was not 
happy about this repeal. In fact, he had given in very 
much against his will. He wanted to rule England in his 
own way, and how could he do so if he allowed his stub¬ 
born colonists in America thus to get the better of him? 

So he made up his mind to insist upon some sort of a 
tax. In 1767, therefore, only one year after the repeal of 
the Stamp Act, he asked Parliament to pass a law taxing 
glass, lead, paper, tea, and a few other articles imported 
into the colonies. 

This new tax was laid, but again the colonists said: 
“We had no part in levying it, and if we pay it, we shall be 
giving up our rights as freemen. But how can we help 
ourselves? 77 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


19 


Samuel Adams and other leaders answered: “We can 
resist it just as we did the Stamp Act—by refusing to buy 
any goods whatever from England. 77 To this the mer¬ 
chants agreed. While the unjust tax was in force, they 
promised to import no English goods, and the people 
promised not to ask for such goods. 

Then many wealthy people agreed to wear homespun 
instead of English cloths, and to stop eating mutton in 
order to have more sheep to produce wool for this home- 
spun, thus showing a willingness to give up for the cause 
some of the luxuries which they had learned to enjoy. 

Of course, this stand taken by the colonists angered the 
King. He called them rebels and sent soldiers to Boston 
to help enforce the laws (1768). 

From the first the people of Boston felt insulted at 
having these soldiers in their midst, and it was not long 
before trouble broke out. In a street fight at night the 
troops fired upon the crowd, killing and wounding a num¬ 
ber of men. 

This caused great excitement. The next day, under 
the leadership of Samuel Adams, the citizens of Boston 
demanded that all the soldiers should be removed. Fear¬ 
ing more serious trouble if the demand was disregarded, 
the officers withdrew the soldiers to an island in the harbor. 

Still the feeling did not die down. The new taxes were 
a constant irritation. “Only slaves would submit to such 
an injustice/ 7 said Samuel Adams, and his listeners agreed. 


20 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


In Massachusetts and in other colonies the English goods 
were refused; and, as in the case of the Stamp Act. the Eng¬ 
lish merchants felt the pinch of heavy losses, and begged 
that the new tax laws be repealed. 

SAMUEL ADAMS AND THE “ BOSTON TEA PARTY ’ ’ 

Feeling grew stronger and matters grew worse until at 
length; after something like three } r ears, Parliament took 
off all the new taxes except the one on tea. “They must 
pay one tax to know we keep the right to tax/’ said the 
King. It was as if the King’s followers had winked slyly 
at one another and said: “We shall see—we shall see! 
Those colonists must have their tea to drink; and a little 
matter of threepence a pound they will overlook.” 

It would have been much better for England if she had 
taken off all the taxes and made friends with the colonists. 
Many leaders in that country said so ; but the stubborn 
King was bent upon having his own way. “ I will be King/’ 
he said. “They shall do as I say.” 

Then he and his followers worked up what seemed to 
them a clever scheme for hoodwinking the colonists. “We 
will make the tea cheaper in America than in England/’ 
they said. “Such a bargain! ITow can the simple colo¬ 
nists resist it?” Great faith was put in this foolish plan. 

But they were soon to find out that those simple colo¬ 
nists were only Englishmen across the sea ; that they too 
had strong wills, and that they did not care half so much 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


21 


about buying cheap tea as they did about giving up a prin¬ 
ciple and paying a tax, however small, which they had no 
part in levying. 

King George went straight ahead to carry out his plan. 
It was arranged that the East India Company should 
ship cargoes of tea to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and 
Charleston. 

In due time the tea arrived. Then the King’s eyes 
were opened. What did he find out about the spirit of 
these colonists ? That they simply would not use this tea. 
The people in New York and Philadelphia refused to let 
it land, and in Charleston they stored it in damp cellars, 
where it spoiled. 

But the most exciting time was in Boston, where the 
Tory governor, Hutchinson, was determined to carry out 
the King’s wishes. Hence occurred the famous “ Boston 
Tea Party,”—a strange tea-party, where no cups were used, 
no guests invited, and no tea drunk! Did you ever hear 
of such a party? Let us see what really happened. 

It was on a quiet Sunday, the 28th of November, 1773, 
when the Dartmouth, the first of the three tea ships bound 
for Boston, sailed into the harbor. The people were attend¬ 
ing service in the various churches when the cry, “The 
Dartmouth is in!” spread like wild-fire. Soon the streets 
were alive with people. That was a strange Sunday in 
Puritan Boston. 

The leaders quickly sought out Benjamin Rotch, the 


22 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


owner of the Dartmouth, and obtained his promise that 
the tea should not be landed before Tuesday. Then they 
called a mass meeting for Monday morning, in Fanueil 

Hall, afterward known as the 
“Cradle of Liberty/' 

The crowd was so great 
that they adjourned to the 
Old South Church, and there 
they overflowed into the 
street. There were five thou- 

i 

sand in all, some of them 
from near-by towns. Samuel 
Adams presided. In ad¬ 
dressing the meeting, he 
asked: a Is it the firm reso¬ 
lution of this body not only 
that the tea shall be sent 
back, but that no duty shall 
be paid thereon?" a Yes!" came the prompt and united 
answer from these brave men. 

So the patriots of Boston and the surrounding towns, 
with Samuel Adams at their head, were determined that 
the tea should not be landed. Governor Hutchinson was 
equally determined that it should be. A stubborn fight, 
therefore, was on hand. 

The Boston patriots appointed men, armed with muskets 
and bayonets, to watch the tea ships, some by day, others 





Fanueil Hall, Boston. 

















































SAMUEL ADAMS 


23 


by night. Six post-riders were appointed; who should 
keep their horses saddled and bridled; ready to speed into 
the country to give the alarm if a landing should be at¬ 
tempted. Sentinels were stationed in the church belfries 
to ring the bells, and beacon-fires 
were made ready for lighting on 
the surrounding hilltops. 

Tuesday, December 16, dawned. 

It was a critical day. If the tea 
should remain in the harbor until 
the morrow—the twentieth day 
after arrival—the revenue officer 
would be empowered by law to 
land it forcibly. 

Men, talking angrily and shak¬ 
ing their fists with excitement, 
were thronging into the streets of 
Boston from the surrounding towns. 

By ten o’clock over seven thousand had assembled in the 
Old South Church and in the streets outside. They were 
waiting for the coming of Benjamin Rotch, who had gone 
to see if the collector would give him a “clearance,” or 
permission to sail out of the port of Boston with the tea. 

Rotch came in and told the angry crowd that the col¬ 
lector refused to give the clearance. The people told him 
that he must get a pass from the governor. Then the 
meeting adjourned for the morning. 



Old South Church, Boston. 








24 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


At three o’clock in the afternoon a great throng of eager 
men again crowded the Old South Church and the streets 
outside to wait for the return of Rotch. It was an anxious 
moment. “If the governor refuses to give the pass, shall 

the revenue officer 
be allowed to seize 
the tea and land it 
to-morrow morn¬ 
ing?” Many anx¬ 
ious faces showed 
that men were ask¬ 
ing themselves this 
momentous question. 

But while, in 
deep suspense, the 
meeting waited for 
Rotch to come they 
discussed the situation, and suddenly John Rowe asked: 
“Who knows how tea will mingle with salt water?” At 
once a whirlwind of applause swept through the assembly 
and the masses outside. A plan was soon formed. 

The afternoon light of the short winter day faded, and 
darkness deepened; the lights of candles sprang up here 
and there in the windows. It was past six o’clock when 
Benjamin Rotch entered the church and, with pale face, 
said: “The governor refuses to give a pass.” 

An angry murmur arose, but the crowd soon became 

















SAMUEL ADAMS 


25 


silent as Samuel Adams stood up. He said quietly: “This 
meeting can do nothing more to save the country.” 

These words were plainly a signal. In an instant a 
war-whoop sounded outside, and forty or fifty “Mohawks,” 
or men dressed as Indians, who had been waiting, dashed 
past the door and down Milk Street toward Griffin’s Wharf, 
where the tea ships were lying at anchor. 

It was then bright moonlight, and everything could be 
plainly seen. Many men stood on shore and watched the 
“Mohawks” as they broke open three hundred and forty- 
two chests, and poured the tea into the harbor. There was 
no confusion. All was done in perfect order. But what a 
strange “tea party” it was! Certainly no other ever used 
so much tea or so much water. 

Soon waiting messengers were speeding to outlying 
towns with the news, and Paul Revere, “booted and 
spurred,” mounted a swift horse and carried the glorious 
message through the colonies as far as Philadelphia. 

SOME RESULTS OF THE “BOSTON TEA PARTY” 

The Boston Tea Party was not a festivity which pleased 
the King. In fact, it made him very furious. He promptly 
decided to punish the rebellious colony. Parliament therefore 
passed the “Boston Port Bill,” by which the port of Boston 
was to be closed to trade until the people paid for the tea. 
But this they had no mind to do. They stubbornly refused. 

Not Boston alone came under the displeasure of King 


26 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


George and Parliament. They put Massachusetts under 
military rule, with General Gage as governor, and sent 
more soldiers. The new governor gave orders that the 
colonial assembly should hold no more meetings. He said 
that the people should no longer make their own laws, nor 
levy their own taxes. This punishment was indeed severe. 

With no vessels allowed to enter or leave the harbor 
and trade entirely cut off, the people of Boston soon began 
to suffer. But the brave men and women would not give 
in. They said: “We will not pay for the tea, nor will we 
tell the King we are sorry for what we have done.” 

When the people of the other colonies heard of the 
suffering in Boston, they sent wheat, cows, sheep, fish, 
sugar, and other kinds of food to help out. The King 
thought that by punishing Boston he would frighten the 
other colonies. But he was mistaken, for they said: “We 
will help the people of our sister colony. Her cause is 
our cause. We must all pull together in our resistance 
to King George and the English Parliament.” So his 
action really united the colonies. 

In order to work together to better advantage, the col¬ 
onies agreed that each should send to a great meeting some 
of their strongest men to talk over their troubles and work 
out some plan of united action. This meeting, which was 
called the First Continental Congress, was held at Car¬ 
penters’ Hall, Philadelphia (1774). 

Samuel Adams and his cousin, John Adams, were two 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


27 



of the four men that Massachusetts sent. They began their 
journey from Boston in a coach drawn by four horses. In 
front rode two 
white servants, 
well mounted and 
bearing arms; 
while behind were 
four black serv¬ 
ants in livery, 
two on horseback 
and two as foot¬ 
men. Such was 
the manner of 
colonial gentle¬ 
men. 

As they jour¬ 
neyed through 
the country the 
people honored 
them in many 

t-i Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia. 

ways, b rom some 

of the larger towns officials and citizens rode out on horse¬ 
back and in carriages to meet them and act as escort; and 
on reaching a town they were feasted at banquets and 
greeted by gleaming bonfires, the ringing of bells, and the 
firing of cannon. These celebrations showed honor not to 
the men alone but to the cause. 





















28 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


The First Continental Congress, to which these mes¬ 
sengers were travelling, urged the people to stand together 
in resisting the attempt of King George and Parliament to 
force them to pay taxes which they had had no share in 
laying. They added: “We have the right not only to tax 
ourselves, but also to govern ourselves. 7 ’ 

With all these movements Samuel Adams was in sym¬ 
pathy. He went even further, for at this time he was almost 
or quite alone in his desire for independence, and he has 
well been called the “Father of the Revolution.” Perhaps 
we think of him especially in connection with the Boston 
Tea Party, but his influence for the good of his country 
lasted far beyond that time. 

Till the close of his life he was an earnest and sincere 
patriot. He died in 1803, at the age of eighty-one years. 
Not an orator like Patrick Henry, but a man of action like 
Washington, he had great power in dealing with men. 
Truly his life was one of great and heroic service to his 
country. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. In what respects were Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry unlike 

as boys? 

2. Tell why Samuel Adams had great power over men. 

3. What kind of man was George III? Why did he so strongly 

desire that the colonists should be compelled to pay a tax 
to England ? 

4. What was the tax law of 1767, and why did the colonists object to 

paying the new taxes? 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


29 


5. What led up to the “Boston Tea Party”? Imagine yourself one 

of the party, and tell what you did. 

6. In what way did George III and Parliament punish Boston for 

throwing the tea overboard? How did the colonies help the 
people of Boston at this time? 

7. What was the First Continental Congress, and what did it do? 

8. What do you admire in Samuel Adams ? 


CHAPTER III 


THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON 

When Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, the 
King believed that such severe punishment would not only 
put a stop to further rebellious acts, but would cause the 
colonists to feel sorry for what they had done and incline 

them once more to obey him. Im¬ 
agine his surprise and indignation at 
what followed! 

As soon as General Gage ordered 
that the Massachusetts Assembly 
should hold no more meetings, the 
colonists made up their minds they 
would not be put down in this man¬ 
ner. They said: “The King has broken 
up the assembly. Very well. We will 
form a new governing body and give it 
a new name, the Provincial Congress .’ 7 
And what do you suppose the chief business of this 
Congress was? To make ready for war! An army was 
called for, and provision made that a certain number of the 
men enlisted should be prepared to leave their homes at a 

minute’s notice. These men were called “minute-men.” 

30 



• t 


John Hancock. 





THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON 


31 


Even while the patriots, for so the rebellious subjects of 
King George called themselves, were making these prepa¬ 
rations, General Gage, who was in command of the British 
troops in Boston, 
had received 
orders from Eng¬ 
land to seize as 
traitors Samuel 
Adams and John 
Hancock, who 
were the most ac¬ 
tive leaders. 

Of Samuel 
Adams you al¬ 
ready know. John 
Hancock was 
president of the 
newly made Pro¬ 
vincial Congress. 

General Gage 

knew that Adams and Hancock were staying for a while 
with a friend in Lexington. He had learned also through 
spies that minutemen had collected some cannon and mili¬ 
tary stores in Concord, twenty miles from Boston, and only 
eight miles beyond Lexington. 

The British general planned, therefore, to send a body 
of troops to arrest the two leaders at Lexington, and 



























































32 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


then to push on and capture or destroy the stores at 
Concord. 

A1 though he acted with the greatest secrecy, he was un¬ 
able to keep his plans from the watchful minutemen. 

We shall see how one of these, Paul 
Revere, outwitted him. Perhaps 
3 r ou have read Longfellow’s poem 
which tells the story of the famous 
“midnight ride” taken by this 
fearless young man. 

Paul Revere had taken an ac¬ 
tive part in the “ Boston Tea 
Party,” and the following year, 
with about thirty other young pa¬ 
triots, he had formed a society to 
spy out the British plans. I fancy 
that the daring and courage called 
for in this business appealed to the high spirits and love of 
adventure of these young men. Always on the watch, they 
were quick to notice any strange movement and report to 
such leaders as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Doctor 
Joseph Warren. 

On the evening of April IS, 1775, Paul Revere and his 
friends brought word to Doctor Warren that they believed 
General Gage was about to carry out his plan, already re¬ 
ported to the patriots, of capturing Adams and Hancock, 
and of taking or destroying the military stores at Concord. 



A Minuteman. 



THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON 


33 


Doctor Warren quickly decided that Paul Revere and 
William Dawes should go on horseback to Lexington and 
Concord and give the alarm. He sent 
them by different routes, hoping that 
one at least might escape the British 
patrols with whom Gage had carefully 
guarded all the roads leading from 
Boston. 

Soon Dawes was galloping across 
Boston Neck, and 

* 


Paul Revere was 
getting ready for a 
long night ride. 

Aiter arranging 
with a friend for a 
lantern signal to be 
hung in the belfry 
of the Old North 
Church to show by ^ 
which route the 
British forces were 
advancing, “one if 
by land and two if 
by sea/’ he stepped 
into a light skiff with two friends who rowed him from 
Boston across the Charles River to Charlestown. 

Upon reaching the other side of the river, he obtained 



Old North Church. 


4 























34 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


v 


a fleet horse and stood ready, bridle in hand, straining his 
eyes in the darkness to catch sight of the signal-lights. The 
horse waits obedient to his master’s touch, and the master 
stands eagerly watching the spot where the signal is to appear. 



Paul Revere’s Ride. 


At eleven o’clock a light flashes forth. Exciting mo¬ 
ment! Then another light! “Two if by sea!” The 
British troops are crossing the Charles River to march 
through Cambridge) 



THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON 


35 


No time to lose! Springing into his saddle and spur¬ 
ring his horse, he speeds like the wind toward Lexington. 

Suddenly two British officers are about to capture him. 
He turns quickly and, dashing into a side-path, with spurs 
in horse he is soon far from his pursuers. 

Then, in his swift flight along the road he pauses at 
every house to shout: “Up and arm! Up and arm! The 
regulars are out! The regulars are out!” 

Families are roused. Lights gleam from the windows. 
Doors open and close. Minutemen are mustering. 

When Lexington is reached, it is just midnight. Eight 
minutemen are guarding the house where Adams and 
Hancock are sleeping. “Make less noise! Don’t disturb 
the people inside,” they warn the lusty rider. “Noise!” 
cries Paul Revere. “You’ll have noise enough before long. 
The regulars are out!” 

Soon William Dawes arrived and joined Revere. Hastily 
refreshing themselves with a light meal, they rode off to¬ 
gether toward Concord, in company with Samuel Prescott, 
a prominent Son of Liberty whose home was in that town. 
About half-way there, they were surprised by mounted 
British officers, who called: “Halt.” 

Prescott managed to escape by making his horse leap 
a stone wall, and rode in hot haste to Concord, which he 
reached in safety; but Paul Revere and William Dawes 
both fell into the hands of the British. 


36 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD 

Meantime, the British troops numbering eight hundred 
men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, were on their way 
to Lexington. But before they had gone far they were 



Monument on Lexington Common Marking the Line of the Minutemen. 


made aware, by the ringing of church-bells, the firing of 
signal-guns, the beating of drums, and the gleaming of 
beacon-fires from the surrounding hilltops, that their 
secret was out, and that the minutemen knew what was 
going on. 

Surprised and disturbed by these signs that the colo¬ 
nists were on the alert, Colonel Smith sent Major Pitcairn 
ahead with a picked body of troops, in the hope that they 

























THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON 


37 


might reach Lexington before the town could be completely 
aroused. He also sent back to Boston for more men. 

The British commander would have been still more dis¬ 
turbed if he had known all that was happening, for the 
alarm-signals were calling to arms thousands of patriots 
ready to die for their rights. Hastily wakened from sleep, 
men snatched their old muskets from over the door, and 
bidding a hurried good-by to wife and children, started for 
the meeting-places long before agreed upon. 

Just as the sun was rising, Major Pitcairn marched 
into Lexington, where he found forty or fifty minutemen 
ready to dispute his advance. 

“Disperse, ye rebels; disperse!” he cried, riding up. 
But they did not disperse. Pitcairn ordered his men to 
fire, and eighteen minutemen fell to the ground. 

Before the arrival of Pitcairn the British officers who 
had captured Revere and Dawes returned with them to 
Lexington, where, commanding Revere to dismount, they 
let him go. Running off at full speed to the house where 
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were staying, he told 
them what had happened, and then guided them across 
the fields to a place of safety. 

Leaving the shocked and dazed villagers to collect their 
dead and wounded, Colonel Smith hastened to Concord. 
He arrived about seven in the morning, six hours after 
Doctor Prescott had given the alarm. 

There had been time to hide the military stores, so the 


38 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


British could not get at those. But they cut down the 
liberty-pole, set fire to the court-house, spiked a few cannon, 
and emptied some barrels of flour. 

About two hundred of them stood guard at the North 
Bridge, while a body of minutemen gathered on a hill on 
the opposite side. When the minutemen had increased to 
four hundred, they advanced to the bridge and brought on 

a fight which re¬ 
sulted in loss of life 
on both sides. 
Then, pushing on 
across the bridge, 
they forced the 
British to withdraw 
into the town. 

The affair had 
become more seri¬ 
ous than the British 
had expected. Even 
in the town they could not rest, for an ever-increasing 
body of minutemen kept swarming into Concord from 
every direction. 

By noon Colonel Smith could see that it would be un¬ 
wise to delay the return to Boston. So, although his men 
had marched twenty miles, and had had little or no food 
for fourteen hours, he gave the order for the return march. 

But when they started back, the minutemen kept after 



Boston and Vicinity. 




THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON 


39 


them and began a deadly attack. It was an unequal fight. 
The minutemen, trained to woodland warfare, slipped 
from tree to tree, shot down the worn and helpless British 
soldiers, and then 
retreated only to 
return and re¬ 
peat the harass¬ 
ing attack. 

The wooded 
country through 
which they were 
passing favored 
this kind of fight¬ 
ing. But even in 
the open coun¬ 
try every stone 
wall and hill, 
every house and 
barn seemed to 
the exhausted 
British troops to bristle with the guns of minutemen. The 
retreating army dragged wearily forward, fighting as bravely 
as possible, but on the verge of confusion and panic. 

They reached Lexington Common at two o’clock, quite 
overcome with fatigue. There they were met by one thou¬ 
sand two hundred fresh troops, under Lord Percy, whose 
timely arrival saved the entire force from capture. Lord 



Concord Bridge. 





















40 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Percy’s men formed a square for the protection of the 
retreating soldiers, and into it they staggered, falling upon 
the ground, “with their tongues hanging out of their 
mouths like those of dogs after a chase.” 

After resting for an hour, the British again took up 
their march to Boston. The minutemen, increasing in 
numbers every moment, kept up the same kind of running 
attack that they had made between Concord and Lexington 
until, late in the day, the redcoats came under the protec¬ 
tion of the guns of the war vessels in Boston Harbor. 

The British had failed. There was no denying that. 
They had been driven back, almost in a panic, to Boston, 
with a loss of nearly three hundred men. The Americans 
had not lost one hundred. 

But the King was not aroused to the situation. He had 
a vision of his superb regiments in their brilliant uniforms 
overriding all before them. 

And how did the Provincials, as the British called the 
Americans, regard the situation? They saw clearly and 
without glamour the deadly nature of the struggle upon 
which they had entered and the strength of the opposing 
army against which they must measure their own strength. 

The people of Massachusetts for miles around Boston 
were now in a state of great excitement. Farmers, me¬ 
chanics, men in all walks of life flocked to the army, and 
within a few days the Americans, sixteen thousand strong, 
were surrounding the British in Boston. 


THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON 


41 


While the people of Massachusetts were in the midst of 
these stirring scenes, an event of deep meaning to all the 
colonies was taking place in Philadelphia. Here the Con¬ 
tinental Congress, coming together for the second time, was 



President Langdon, the President of Harvard College, Praying for the Bunker Hill 
Entrenching Party on Cambridge Common Just Before Their Departure. 


making plans for carrying on the war by voting money for 
war purposes and by making George Washington com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the Continental army, of which the 
troops around Boston were the beginning. Thus did the 
colonies recognize that war had come and that they must 
stand together in the fight. 

Meantime more British troops, under the command of 






42 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


General Howe, arrived in Boston, making an army of ten 
thousand men. Believing they could be forced to leave 

the town by can¬ 
non planted on 
Bunker Hill, the 
Americans decided 
to occupy it. 

On the night of 
June 16, therefore, 
shortly before mid- 
light, twelve hun¬ 
dred Americans 
marched quietly 
from Cambridge 
and, advancing to 
Breed’s Hill, which 
was nearer Boston 
than Bunker Hill, 
began to throw up 
breastworks. 

They worked hard all night, and by early morning had 
made good headway. The British, on awaking, were greatly 
surprised to see what had been done. They turned the fire 
of their war vessels upon the Americans, w T ho, however, kept 
right on with their work. 

General Howe, now in command of the British army, 
thought it would be easy enough to drive off the “ rebels.” 













THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON 


43 


So about three o’clock in the afternoon he made an assault 
upon their works. 

The British soldiers, burdened with heavy knapsacks, 
and suffering from the heat of a summer sun, had to march 
through tall grass reaching above 
their knees and to climb many 
fences. 

Behind their breastworks the 
Americans watched the scarlet 
ranks coming nearer and nearer. 

Powder was low, and must not be 
wasted. Colonel William Prescott, 
who was in command, told his men 
not to fire too soon. “Wait till 
you see the whites of their eyes,” 
he said. 

Twice the British soldiers, in 
their scarlet uniforms, climb the 
slope of the hill and charge the breastworks. Twice the 
Americans drive them back, ploughing great gaps in their 
ranks. 

A third time they advance. But now the Americans do 
not answer the charge. There is good reason—the powder 
has given out! A great rush—and the redcoats have 
climbed over. But it is no easy victory even now, and 
there is no lack of bravery on the part of the Americans. 
With clubbed muskets they meet the invaders. 



Bunker Hill Monument. 




44 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


The British won the victory, but with great loss 
“Many such/’ said one critic, “would have cost them their 
army/’ 

On the other hand, the Americans had fought like 
heroes, and news of the battle brought joy to every loyal 
heart. Washington heard of it when on his way to take 
command of the army. 

“Did the Americans stand fire?” was his first question. 
“Yes,” was the answer. 

“Then,” said he, “the liberties of the country are safe.” 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Impersonating Paul Revere, tell the story of his famous ride. 

What do you think of him? 

2. Why did the British troops march out to Lexington and Concord ? 

3. Imagine yourself at Concord on the morning of the battle, and 

tell what happened. 

4. Why did the Americans fortify Breed’s Hill? What were the 

results of the Battle of Bunker Hill ? 

5. What did Washington say when he heard that the Americans had 

stood their ground in face of the British assault? 


CHAPTER IV 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 


In electing George Washington commander-in-chief of 
the Continental army, the Continental Congress probably 
made the veiy wisest choice possible. Of course, this was 
not so clear then. For even' leaders like Samuel Adams 
and John Adams and Patrick Henry did not know Wash¬ 
ington’s ability as we have come to know it now. But they 
had learned enough about his 
wonderful power over men and 
his great skill as a leader in 
time of war to believe that he 
was the man to whom they 
might trust the great work of 
directing the army in this mo¬ 
mentous crisis. 

We have already learned, in 
a previous book, something of 
Washington’s boyhood, so simple 
and free and full of activity. 

We recall him, as he grew up, 

first as a youthful surveyor, then as the trusted messenger 

of his colony, Virginia, to the commander of the French 

45 



George Washington. 



46 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


forts west of the Alleghanies, and afterward as an aide of 
General Braddock when the war with the French broke out. 

In the discharge of all these duties and in all his rela¬ 
tions with men, whether above him in office or under his 
command, he had shown himself trustworthy and efficient, 
a man of clear mind and decisive action—one who com¬ 
manded men’s respect, obedience, and even love. 

Aiter the last battle of the Last French War Washington 
had returned to his home at Mount Vernon, on the banks 
of the Potomac, and very soon (1759) married Mrs. Martha 
Custis, a young widow whom he had met at a friend’s 
house while he was on the way to Williamsburg the year 
before. With the addition of his wife’s property to his 
own, he became a man of much wealth and at one time 
was one of the largest landholders in America. 

But with all his wealth and experience Washington had 
the modesty which always goes with true greatness. In 
the Virginia House of Burgesses, to which he was elected 
after the Last French War, he was given a vote of thanks 
for his brave services in that war. Rising to reply, Wash¬ 
ington, still a young man, stood blushing and stammering, 
unable to say a word. The speaker, liking him none the 
less for this embarrassment, said, with much grace: “Sit 
down, Mr. Washington. Your modesty equals your valor, 
and that surpasses the power of any language I possess.” 

Some years rolled by and the home-loving young planter 
lived the busy but quiet life of a high-bred Virginia gentle- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 47 


man. Meanwhile the exciting events of which we have 
been speaking were crowding upon one another and lead¬ 
ing up to the Revolution; and in this interval of quiet 
country life Washington was unconsciously preparing for 
the greater task for which he was soon to be chosen. 



Washington, Henry, and Pendleton on the Way to Congress at Philadelphia. 


In the events of these days Washington took his own 
part. He was one of the representatives of Virginia at the 
first meeting of the Continental Congress, in 1774, going to 
Philadelphia in company with Patrick Henry and others. 
He was also a delegate to the second meeting of the Con¬ 
tinental Congress, in May, 1775. 

He filled well each place of trust; and what more natural 
than that the Congress should choose as commander-in¬ 
chief of the American army this gentleman, young, able, 
and already tried and proven ? He was chosen unanimously. 























48 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


On being elected, Washington rose and thanked Congress 
for the honor, adding modestly: “I do not think myself 
equal to the command I am honored with.” No doubt in 
the dark days of war to follow he often felt in this way, 



The Washington Elm at Cambridge, under which Washington took 

Command of the Army. 


but as the task had fallen to him, he determined to do his 
best and trust in a higher power for the outcome. 

He refused to accept any salary for his services, but 
said he would keep an account of his expenses. The idea 
of gain for himself in the time of his country’s need was 
far removed from this great man’s heart! 

On the 21st of June, Washington set out on horseback 
from Philadelphia, in company with a small body of horse- 









GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 49 


men, to take command of the American army around Bos¬ 
ton. This journey, which can now be made by train in a 
few hours, took several days. 

Soon after starting, Washington was much encouraged, 
as we have seen in a preceding chapter, by the news of 
the brave stand the provincials had made at the battle of 
Bunker Hill. 

After three days, he reached New York, about four 
o’clock on Sunday afternoon, and was given a royal wel¬ 
come. Nine companies of soldiers on foot escorted him 
as he passed through the streets in an open carriage drawn 
by two white horses. All along the route the streets were 
lined with people who greeted him with cheers. 

Continuing his journey, on July 2 he reached the camp 
in Cambridge, and there officers and soldiers received him 
with enthusiasm. 

WASHINGTON IN COMMAND OF THE ARMY 

Next day under the famous elm still standing near Har¬ 
vard University, Washington drew his sword and took com¬ 
mand of the American army. 

He was then forty-three years old, tall and manly in 

form, noble and dignified in bearing. His soldiers looked 

upon him with pride as he sat upon his horse, a superb 

picture of strength and dignity. He wore a three-cornered 

hat with the cockade of liberty upon it, and across his 

breast a broad band of blue silk. The impression he made 
5 


50 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


was most pleasing, his courteous and kindly manner winning 
friends immediately. 

Washington at once began the labor of getting his troops 
ready to fight, as his army was one only in name. For 
although the men were brave and willing, they had never 
been trained for war, and were not even supplied with 
muskets or powder. 

Fortunately, the British did not know how badly off 
the American army was, and were taking their ease inside 
their own defenses. The autumn and the winter slipped 
by before Washington could make the attempt to drive 

the British out of Boston. 

✓ 

At last, by the first of March, some cannon and 
other supplies arrived in camp. Many of them had been 
dragged over the snow from Ticonderoga on sledges drawn 
by oxen. This gave Washington his opportunity to strike. 

One night, while the cannon of the American army, 
which was just outside of Boston, were firing upon the 
British for the purpose of concealing Washington’s plan, 
he sent troops to seize and fortify Dorchester Heights, 
overlooking Boston on the south. 

Next morning when the astonished British commander, 
Howe, realized what the Americans had done, he saw clearly 
that he must drive them from the Heights or else leave 
Boston himself. But before he could send a force across 
the bay, a violent storm came up and delayed the attack. 

In the meantime the Americans had made their earth- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 51 


works so strong that Howe decided not to molest them. 
He remembered too well the Bunker Hill affair. So with 
all his army he sailed away to Halifax, leaving behind 
much powder and many cannon, which you may be sure 
the Americans lost no time in 
seizing. - 

Washington believed that 
after leaving Boston the British 
would try to take New York in 
order to get control of the Hud¬ 
son River and the middle col¬ 
onies. To outwit them his men 
must get to New York first. 

This they did. 

He had not gone far in put- 

1 Sir William Howe. 

ting up defenses there when an 

event of profound importance took place in Philadelphia. 
This was the signing of the Declaration of Independence by 
the Continental Congress. Up to the summer of 1776, it 
was for their rights as free-born Englishmen that the col¬ 
onists had been fighting. But now that King George was 
sending thousands of soldiers to force them to give up 
these rights, which were as dear to them as their own lives, 
they said: “We will cut ourselves off from England. We 
will make our own laws; we will levy our own taxes; we will 
manage our affairs in our own way. We will declare our 
independence.” 








52 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


So they appointed a committee, two of whom were 
Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, to draw up the 
Declaration of Independence. This was signed July 4, 1776, 



Thomas Jefferson Looking Over the Rough Draught of the 
Declaration of Independence. 


It was a great day in American history, and worthy 
of celebration. After that, the thirteen colonies became 
States, and each organized its own government. 



















































































































































GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 53 


This act, no doubt, gave Washington good heart for the 
difficult work he had in hand, but the task itself was no 
easier. While he was waiting at New York for the enemy’s 
attack, he had only an ill-assorted army of about eighteen 
thousand men to meet them. General Howe, who soon 
arrived, had thirty thousand men and a large fleet as well 
Yet Washington pluckily made plans to defend the city. 

When Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island, had been for¬ 
tified, he sent General Putnam with half the army across 
East River to occupy them. 

On August 27 General Howe, with something like 
twenty thousand men, attacked a part of these forces and 
defeated them. If he had attacked the remainder at once, 
he might have captured the full half of the army un¬ 
der Putnam’s command—and even Washington himself, 
who, during the heat of the battle, had crossed over from 
New York. But, as we have seen, the British vere apt to 
“put off till to-morrow.” And very fortunate it was for 
the Americans. 

Possibly General Howe could have ended the war at 
this time if he had continued his attack. But of course 
he did not know that the Americans were going to escape, 
any more than he had known that they were going to cap¬ 
ture Boston. His men had fought hard at the end of a 
/ 

long night march and needed rest. Besides, he felt so sure 
of making an easy capture of the remainder of the army 
that there was no need of haste. For how could the Ameri- 


54 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


cans get away? Did not the British fleet have them so 
close under its nose that it could easily get between them 
and New York and make escape impossible? 

This all seemed so clear to the easy-going General 
Howe that with good conscience he gave his tired men a 



The Retreat from Long Island. 


rest after the battle on the 27th. On the 28th a heavy rain 
fell, and on the 29th a dense fog covered the island. 

But before midday of the 29th, some American officers 
riding down toward the shore noticed an unusual stir in 
the British fleet. Boats were going to and fro as if carry¬ 
ing orders. 

“It looks as if the English vessels may soon sail up be¬ 
tween New York and Long Island and cut off our retreat,” 












GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 55 


said these officers to Washington. The situation was peril¬ 
ous. At once Washington gave orders to secure all the 
boats possible, in order to attempt escape during the night. 

It was a desperate undertaking. There were ten thou¬ 
sand men to be taken across, and the width of the river at 
the point of crossing was nearly a mile. It would hardly 
seem possible that such a movement could be made in a 
single night without being discovered by the British troops, 
who were lying in camp within gunshot of the retreating 
Americans. 

But that which seemed impossible was done, for the 
army was transferred in safety. 

The night must have been a long and anxious one for 
Washington, who stayed at his post of duty on the Long 
Island shore until the last boat-load had pushed off. The 
retreat was as brilliant as it was daring, and it saved the 
American cause. 

But even after he had saved his army from capture and 
once more outwitted the British, the situation was still one 
of great danger. No sooner had the Americans made their 
perilous escape from Long Island than the British seized 
Brooklyn Heights. So just across the river from New York 
were the British troops, and just below them in the harbor 
lay the British fleet. 


56 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


THE HEROIC NATHAN HALE 

With forces so unequal, a single unwise movement might 
bring disaster. If only Washington could learn the plans 
of the British! The only way to do this was to send a 
spy over into their camp. He called for a volunteer to go 
inside the enemy’s line and get information. Now, you 
know that spying is dangerous business, for if captured the 
man will be hanged; and none but a brave man will under¬ 
take it. 

Probably many of you boys and girls know the name 
of the hero whom Washington selected for this delicate 
and dangerous task. It was Nathan Hale. 

Perhaps you ask why he was chosen, and why he was 
willing to go. 

We can answer those questions best by finding out 
something about his life. 

Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, a little town in 
Connecticut, in 1755. His parents, who were veiy religious 
people, had taught him to be always honest, brave, and 

loyal. 

Nathan was bright in school and fond of books. He 
was also fond of play. Although he was not very strong as 
a small boy, he grew sturdy and healthy by joining in the 
sports of the other boys. They liked him, because, like 
George Washington, he always played fair. 

Later he went to Yale College, where he studied hard 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 57 


but yet had time for fun. He became a fine athlete, tall, 
and well-built. He sang well, and his gentlemanly manner 
and thoughtfulness of others made him beloved by all who 
knew him. 

After he left college, he taught school with much suc¬ 
cess, being respected and loved by his pupils. He was 
teaching in New London, Connecticut, when 
the Revolutionary War broke out. 

He felt sorry to leave his school, but 
believing his country needed the service of 
every patriotic man, he joined the army 
and was made a captain. 

When he learned that his commander 
needed a spy, he said: “I am ready to go. 

Send me.” 

He was only twenty-one, hardly more 
than a boy, yet he knew the danger. And 
although life was very dear to him he loved 
his countiy more than his own life. 

His noble bearing and grace of manner might easily 
permit him to pass as a Loyalist, that is, an American who 
sympathized with England—there were many such in the 
British camp—and Washington accepted him for the mis¬ 
sion. 

He dressed himself like a schoolmaster, so that the Brit¬ 
ish would not suspect that he was an American soldier. 

Then, entering the enemy’s lines, he visited all the 



Nathan Hale. 




58 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


camps, took notes, and made sketches of the fortifica¬ 
tions, hiding the papers in the soles of his shoes. He 
was just about returning when he was captured. The pa¬ 
pers being found upon him, he was condemned to be hanged 
as a spy before sunrise the next morning. 

The marshal who guarded him that night was a cruel 
man. He would not allow his prisoner to have a Bible, and 
even tore in pieces before his eyes the farewell letters which 
the young spy had written to his mother and friends. 

But Nathan Hale was not afraid to die, and held him¬ 
self calm and steady to the end. Looking down upon the 
few soldiers who were standing near by as he went to his 
death, he said: “I only regret that I have but one life to 
lose for my country.’ 7 All honor to this brave and true 
young patriot! 

A TIME OF TRIAL FOR WASHINGTON 

But the death of Nathan Hale was only one of the hard 
things Washington had to bear in this trying year of 1776. 
We have seen that when the Aunericans left the Long Island 
shore, the British promptly occupied it. On Brooklyn 
Heights they planted their cannon, commanding New York. 
So Washington had to withdraw, and he retreated north¬ 
ward to White Plains, stubbornly contesting every inch of 
ground. 

In the fighting of the next two months the Americans 
lost heavily. Two forts on the Hudson River with three 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 59 


thousand men were captured by the British. The outlook 
was gloomy enough, and it was well for the Americans that 
they could not foresee 
the even more trying 
events that were to 
follow. 

In order to save him¬ 
self and his men from 
the enemy, Washington 
had to retreat once 
more, this time across 
New Jersey toward 
Philadelphia. With the 
British army, in every 
way stronger than his 
own, close upon him, it 
was a race for life. 

Sometimes there was 
only a burning bridge, 



which the rear-guard of 


The War in the Middle States. 


the Americans had set on fire, between the fleeing forces 
and the pursuing army. 

To make things worse, Washington saw his own army 
becoming smaller every day, because the men whose term 
of enlistment had expired were leaving to go to their homes. 
When he reached the Delaware River he had barely three 
thousand men left. 






60 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Here again Washington showed a master-stroke of 
genius. Having collected boats for seventy miles along 
the river, he succeeded in getting his army safely across 
at a place a little above Trenton. As the British had no 
boats, they had to come to a halt. In their usual easy way, 
they decided to wait until the river should freeze, when— 
as they thought—they would cross in triumph and make 
a speedy capture of Philadelphia. 

To most people in England and in America alike, the 
early downfall of the American cause seemed certain. 
General Cornwallis was so sure that the war would soon 
come to an end that he had already packed some of his 
luggage and sent it to the ship in which he expected to re¬ 
turn to England. 

But Washington had no thought of giving up the strug¬ 
gle. Others might say: “It’s of no use to fight against 
such heavy odds.” General Washington was not that kind 
of man. He faced the dark outlook with all his courage 
and energy. Full of faith in the cause for which he was 
willing to die, he watched eagerly for the opportunity to 
turn suddenly upon his overconfident enemy and strike a 
heavy blow. 


THE VICTORY AT TRENTON 

Such an opportunity came soon. A body of British 
troops, made up of Hessians (or Germans mainly from 
Hesse-Cassel, hired as soldiers by King George), was sta- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 61 


tioned at Trenton, and Washington planned to surprise 
them on Christmas night, when, as he knew, it was their 
custom to hold a feast and revel. 

With two thousand four hundred picked men he pre¬ 
pared to cross the Delaware River at a point nine miles 



British and Hessian Soldiers. 


above Trenton. The ground was white with snow, and the 
weather was bitterly cold. As the soldiers marched to the 
place of crossing, some of them whose feet were almost bare 
left bloody footprints along the route. 

At sunset the troops began to cross. It was a terrible 
night. Angry gusts of wind, and great blocks of ice swept 
along by the swift current, threatened eveiy moment to 
dash in pieces the frail boats. 














62 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


From the Trenton side of the river. General Knox, who 
had been sent ahead by Washington, loudly shouted to 
let the struggling boatmen know where to land. For ten 
hours boat-load after boat-load of men made the dangerous 
crossing, A long, long night this must have been to Wash¬ 
ington, as he stood in the midst of the wild storm, anxious, 
yet hopeful that the next day would bring him victory. 

It was not until four in the morning that the already 
weary men were in line to march. Trenton was nine miles 
away, and a fearful storm of snow and sleet beat fiercely 
upon them as they advanced. Yet they pushed forward. 
Surely such courage and hardihood deserved its reward! 

The Hessians, sleeping heavily after their night’s feast¬ 
ing, were quite unaware of the approaching army. About 
sunrise they were surprised and most of them easily cap¬ 
tured after a brief struggle. 

Like a gleam of light in the darkness, news of this vic¬ 
tory shot through the colonies. It brought hope to every 
patriot heart. The British were amazed at the daring feat, 
and Cornwallis decided not to leave America for a time. 
Instead, he advanced with a large force upon Trenton, 
hoping to capture Washington’s army there. 

At nightfall, January 2, 1777, he took his stand on the 
farther side of a small creek, near Trenton, and thought 
he had Washington in a trap. “At last,” said Cornwallis, 
“we have run down the old fox, and we will bag him in 
the morning.” In the morning again! 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 63 


But Washington was too sly a fox for Cornwallis to 
bag. During the night he led his army around Cornwallis’s 
camp and ; pushing on to Princeton; defeated the rear-guard; 
which had not yet joined the main body. He then retired 
in safety to his winter quarters among 
the hills about Morristown. 

During this fateful campaign Wash¬ 
ington had handled his army in a mas¬ 
terly way. He had 
begun with bitter de¬ 
feat; he had ended 
with glorious victory. 

The Americans now 
felt that their cause 
was by no means hopeless. It was well that they had 
this encouragement; for the year that began with the 
battle of Princeton (1777) was to test their courage and 
loyalty to the uttermost. 



Powder-Horn, Bullet-Flask, and Buckshot-Pouch 
Used in the Revolution. 


burgoyne’s invasion 

It had become plain to the British that if they could get 
control of the Hudson River; thus cutting off New England 
from the other States ; they could so weaken the Americans 
as to make their defeat easy. So they adopted this plan: 
Burgoyne with nearly eight thousand men was to march 
from Canada; by way of Lake Champlain and Fort Ed¬ 
ward; to Albany ; where he was to meet a small force of 












64 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


British, who also were to come from Canada by way of 
the Mohawk Valley. The main army of eighteen thou¬ 
sand men, under General Howe, was expected to sail up 
the Hudson from New York. They believed that this 
plan could be easily carried out and would soon bring the 
war to a close. 

And their plan might have succeeded if General Howe 
had done his part. Let us see what happened. 

Howe thought that before going up the river to meet 
and help Burgoyne, he would just march across New Jersey 
and capture Philadelphia. This, however, was not so easy 
as he had expected it to be. Washington’s army was in his 
pathway, and, not caring to fight his way across, he returned 
to New York and tried another route, sailing with his army 
to Chesapeake Bay. The voyage took two months, much 
longer than he expected. 

When at length he landed and advanced toward Phil¬ 
adelphia, he was again thwarted. Washington’s army 
grimly fronted him at Brandywine Creek, and a battle 
had to be fought. The Americans were defeated, it is 
true, but Washington handled his army with such skill 
that it took Howe two weeks to reach Philadelphia, 
which was only twenty-six miles away from the field of 
battle. 

Howe was thus kept busy by Washington until it was 
too late for him to send help to Burgoyne. 

Moreover, Burgoyne was disappointed also in the help 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 65 


which he had expected from the Mohawk Valley, for the 
army which was to come from that direction had been 



General Burgoyne Surrendering to General Gates. 

forced to retreat to Canada almost before reaching the 
valley at all. 

Burgoyne was now in a hard place. The Americans 

were in front of him, blocking his way, and also behind him, 

preventing him from retreating or from getting powder 

and other greatly needed supplies from Canada. He could 

move in neither direction. 

6 















66 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Thus left in the lurch by those from whom he expected 
aid and penned in by the Americans, there was nothing 
for him to do but fight or give up. 

Like a good soldier, he fought, and the result was two 
battles near Saratoga and the defeat of the British. In the 
end Burgoyne had to surrender his entire army of six thou¬ 
sand regular troops (October 17, 1777). 

Such was the way in which the British plan worked 
out. Of course the result was a great blow to England. 

On the other hand, the victory was a great cause of joy 
to the Americans. It made hope stronger at home; it 
won confidence abroad. France had been watching closely 
to see whether the Americans were likely to win in their 
struggle, before aiding them openly. Now she was ready 
to do so, and was quite willing to make a treaty with them, 
even though such a course should lead to war with Eng¬ 
land. 

To bring about this treaty with France, Benjamin 
Franklin did more than any other man. After signing the 
Declaration of Independence—and you will remember that 
he was a member of the committee appointed to draft that 
great state paper—he went to France to secure aid for the 
American cause. He must have been a quaint figure at 
the French court, his plain hair and plain cloth coat con¬ 
trasting strangely with the fashion and elegance about him. 
Yet this simple-hearted man was welcomed by the French 
people, who gave feasts and parades in his honor and dis- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 67 

played his picture in public places. By his personal influ¬ 
ence he did very much to secure the aid which France 
gave us. 


LAFAYETTE JOINS THE AMERICAN ARMY 

Even before an open treaty was signed France had 
secretly helped the cause of the Americans. She had sent 
them money and army supplies 
and, besides this, able French¬ 
men had come across the At¬ 
lantic to join the American 
army. The most noted of these 
was the Marquis de Lafayette. 

The circumstances under 
which he came were quite ro¬ 
mantic. Lafayette was but 
nineteen when he heard for the 
first time at a dinner-party the 
story of the American people 
fighting for their liberty. It interested and deeply moved 
him. For in his own land a desire for freedom had been 
growing, and he had been in sympathy with it. Now he 
made it his business to find out more about this war, and 
then he quickly decided to help all he could. 

He belonged to one of the noblest families of France, 
and was very wealthy. He had a young wife and a baby, 
whom he regretted to leave. But he believed that his 



Marquis de Lafayette. 


68 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


duty called him to join the cause of freedom. His wife 
was proud of the lofty purpose of her noble husband, and 
encouraged him to carry out his plan. 

But Lafayette found it very hard to get away, for his 
family was one of influence. His relatives and also the 



Lafayette Offering His Services to Franklin. 


men in power were very angry when he made known his 
purpose, and they tried to prevent his going. 

But he bought a ship with his own money and loaded 
it with army supplies. Then, disguising himself as a post¬ 
boy, he arrived at the coast without being found out. 

After a long, tiresome voyage he reached the United 
States and went to Philadelphia. 






























GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 69 


There Congress gave him the rank of major-general, 
but in accepting it Lafayette asked that he might serve 
without pay. 

A warm friendship at once sprang up between Wash¬ 
ington and the young Frenchman, and a feeling of con¬ 
fidence as between father and son. The older man made 
the young major-general a member of his military family, 
and Lafayette was always proud to serve his chief. He 
spent his money freely and risked his life to help the cause 
of American liberty. We can never forget his unselfish 
service. 

At the close of the year 1777 Washington took his army 
to a strong position among the hills at Valley Forge, about 
twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia, there to spend the 
winter. 

It was a period of intense suffering. Sometimes the 
soldiers went for days without bread. “For some days 
past,” wrote Washington, “there has been little less than 
famine in the camp.” Most of the soldiers were in rags, 
only a few had bed clothing. Many had to sit by the fire 
all night to keep warm, and some of the sick soldiers were 
without beds or even loose straw to lie upon. ». Nearly 
three thousand of the men were barefoot in this severe 
winter weather, and many had frozen feet because of the 
lack of shoes. It makes one heart-sick to read about what 
these brave men passed through during that wretched 
winter. 


70 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Yet, in spite of bitter trials and distressing times, Wash¬ 
ington never lost faith that in the end the American cause 
would triumph. A beautiful story is told showing the 



Winter at Valley Forge. 


faith of this courageous man while in the midst of these 
pitiful scenes at Valley Forge. 

One day, when “ Friend Potts/’ a good Quaker farmer, 
was near the camp, he saw Washington on his knees, his 







GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION 71 


cheeks wet with tears, praying for help and guidance. 
When the farmer returned to his home, he said to his wife: 
“George Washington will succeed! George Washington 
will succeed! The Americans will secure their indepen¬ 
dence.’ 7 

“What makes thee think so, Isaac?” inquired his wife. 

“I have heard him pray, Hannah, out in the woods 
to-day, and the Lord will surely hear his prayer. He will, 
Hannah; thee may rest assured He will.” 

Many events happened between this winter at Valley 
Forge and the surrender of Cornwallis with all his army 
at Yorktown, but these we shall take up in a later chapter. 
Washington had led his army through the valley of despair, 
and never again while the war lasted was the sky so dark. 

At the close of the war Washington was glad to return 
to Mount Vernon and become a Virginia planter once 
more. But, as we shall learn further on, he was not per¬ 
mitted to spend the remainder of his days in the quiet rural 
life which he liked so well. For his countrymen had come 
to honor and trust him as their leader, and the time was 
not far away when they would again seek his firm and 
wise guidance. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. What kind of army did Washington have when he took command 

at Cambridge ? 

2. What was the Declaration of Independence, and when was it 

signed ? 


72 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


3. How did Washington show his ability as a general at New York? 

What great mistake did General Howe make at that time ? 

4. What did Nathan Hale do? What do you think of him? 

5. Imagine yourself with Washington in the attack upon Trenton, 

and tell what happened. 

6. What were the results of the capture of Burgoyne? 

7. Who was Lafayette, and what did he do for the American cause? 

8. Describe as well as you can the sufferings of the Americans at 

Valley Forge. 

9. Are you making frequent use of the map ? 


CHAPTER V 


NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES IN THE 

SOUTH 

We have given a rapid glance at the part which Wash¬ 
ington took in the Revolution. He, as commander-in¬ 
chief, stands first. But he would have been quick to say 
that much of the credit for the success in that uneven 
struggle was due to the able generals who carried out his 
plans. Standing next to Wash¬ 
ington himself as a military 
leader was Nathanael Greene. 

As you remember, the first 
fighting of the Revolution was 
in New England near Boston. 

Failing there, the British tried 
hard to get control of the Hud¬ 
son River and the Middle States, 
as we have just seen. Again they 
were baffled by Washington. 

Nathanael Greene. 

One course remained, and 

that was to gain control of the southern States. Beginning 

in Georgia, they captured Savannah. Two years later in 

May (1780), they captured General Lincoln and all his 

73 



74 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


force at Charleston, and in the following August badly de~ 
feated General Gates, at Camden, South Carolina, where 
with a new army he was now commanding in General 
Lincoln’s place. 

The outlook for the patriot cause was discouraging. 
One thing was certain. A skilful general must take charge 
of the American forces in the south, or the British would 
soon have everything in their own hands. Washington 
had great faith in General Greene, and did not hesitate to 
appoint him for this hard task. Let us see what led the 
commander-in-chief to choose this New England man for 
duty in a post so far away. 

Nathanael Greene was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, 
in 1742. His father, who on week-days was a blacksmith 
and miller, on Sundays was a Quaker preacher. Nathanael 
was trained to work at the forge and in the mill and in the 
fields as well. He was robust and active and, like young 
George Washington, a leader in outdoor sports. But with 
all his other activities he was also, like young Samuel 
Adams, a good student of books. 

We like to think of these colonial boys going to school 
and playing at games just as boys do now, quite unaware 
of the great things waiting for them to do in the world. 
Had they known of their future, they could have prepared 
in no better way than by taking their faithful part in the 
work and honest sport of each day as it came. 

Greene, being ten years younger than Washington, was 


NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES 75 

about thirty-two years old when the Boston Tea Party 
and those other exciting events of that time occurred. 

Although news did not travel so rapidly then as now, 
Greene was soon aware that war was likely to break out 
at any time, and he 
took an active part in 
preparing for it. He 
helped to organize a 
company of soldiers 
who should be ready to 
fight for the American 
cause, and made the 
trip from Rhode Island 
to Boston to get a 
musket for himself. In 
Boston he watched with 
much interest the Brit¬ 
ish regulars taking their 
drill, and brought back 
with him not only a musket, hidden under some straw in 
his wagon, but also a runaway British soldier, who was to 
drill his company. 

When news of the battle of Bunker Hill passed swiftly 
over the country, proving that the war had actually begun, 
Rhode Island raised three regiments of troops and placed 
Greene at their head as general. He marched at once to 
Boston, and when Washington arrived to take command 





76 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


of the American troops, it was General Greene who had the 
honor of welcoming him in the name of the army. 

GENERAL GREENE IN THE SOUTH 

At this time Greene was a man of stalwart appearance, 
six feet tall, strong and vigorous in body, and with a frank, 
intelligent face. At once he won the friendship and con¬ 
fidence of Washington, who always trusted him with posi¬ 
tions calling for courage, ability, and skill. It was not long 
before he was Washington’s right-hand man. So you can 
easily see why Washington chose him in 1780 as com¬ 
mander of the American army in the south. 

When General Greene reached the Carolinas, it was 
December, and he found the army in a pitiable condition. 
There was but a single blanket for the use of every three 
soldiers, and there was not food enough in camp to last 
three days. The soldiers had lost heart because of defeat, 
they were angry because they had not been paid, and many 
were sick because they had not enough to eat. They camped 
in rude huts made of fence rails, corn-stalks, and brushwood. 

A weak man would have said: “What can I do with 
an army like this? The task is impossible. To remain 
here is to fail, so I will resign.” 

But General Greene said nothing of the kind. He set 
to work with a will, for he believed that the right was on 
his side. By wise planning, skilful handling of the army, 
and hard labor, he managed, with the forces at hand, to 


NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES 77 


ward off the enemy, get food supplies, and put new spirit 
into his men. 

Soon he won the confidence and love of both officers 
and soldiers. A story is told that shows us the sympathy 



The Meeting of Greene and Gates upon Greene’s Assuming Command. 


he had for his men and their faith in him. On one oc¬ 
casion Greene said to a barefoot sentinel: “How you must 
suffer from cold!” Not knowing that he spoke to his 
general, the soldier replied: “I do not complain. I know I 
should have what I need if our general could get supplies.” 






78 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


DANIEL MORGAN, THE GREAT RIFLEMAN 

It was indeed fortunate for General Greene that in this 
time of need his men were so loyal to him. Among them 
was one who later became noted for his brilliant, daring 
exploits. This was Daniel Morgan, the great rifleman. 
You will be interested to hear of some of his thrilling ex¬ 
periences. 

When about nineteen years old, Morgan began his mili¬ 
tary career as a teamster in Braddock’s army, and at the 
time of Braddock’s defeat he did good service by bringing 
wounded men off the battle-field. It was about this time 
that he became known to Washington, who liked and 
trusted him. The young man was so dependable and 
brave that he was steadily promoted. 

When he was twenty-three, he had an exciting adven¬ 
ture which brought him the only wound he ever received. 
It was during the Last French War. With two other men, 
he was sent to carry a message to the commanding officer 
at Winchester. They had still about a mile to ride when 
a party of French and Indians who were hiding in the woods 
near the roadside fired upon them. Morgan’s comrade 
fell dead instantly. He himself was so severely wounded 
in the neck by a musket-ball that he came near fainting and 
believed he was going to die. But he managed to cling to 
his horse’s neck and spurred him along the forest trail. 

One Indian, hoping to get Morgan’s scalp, ran for a 


NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEORES 79 


time beside the horse. But when he saw that the animal 
was outstripping him, he gave up the chase, hurling his 
tomahawk with an angry yell at the fleeing man. Morgan 
was soon safe in the hands of friends. 

During the Revolution his services were, in more than 
one critical situation, of great value to the American cause. 
In the campaign which ended 
with Burgoyne’s defeat, for in¬ 
stance, his riflemen fought like 
heroes. General Burgoyne, after 
his surrender, exclaimed to Mor¬ 
gan: “Sir, you command the 
finest regiment in the world.” 

Indeed, it was regarded at 
that time as the best regiment 
in the American army, and this 
was largely due to Morgan’s skill 
in handling his men. He made them feel as if they were one 
family. He was alw T ays thoughtful for their health and com¬ 
fort, and he appealed to their pride but never to their fear. 

He was a very tall and strong man, with handsome 
features and a remarkable power to endure. His manner 
was quiet and refined, and his noble bearing indicated a 
high sense of honor. He was liked by his companions be¬ 
cause he was always good-natured and ready for the most 
daring adventure. 

General Greene made good use of this true patriot, 



Daniel Morgan. 


80 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


and not long after taking command of the army he sent 
Morgan with nine hundred picked men to the westward 
to threaten the British outposts. General Cornwallis, in 
command of the British army in the south, ordered Colo¬ 
nel Tarleton to lead a body of soldiers against Morgan. 

Early in the morning of January 17, 1781, after a hard 
night march, Tarleton, overconfident of success, attacked 
Morgan at Cowpens, in the northern part of South Caro¬ 
lina. The Americans stood up bravely against the attack 
and won a brilliant victory. The British lost almost their 
entire force, including six hundred prisoners. 

Cornwallis was bitterly disappointed, for his plan, under¬ 
taken in such confidence, had ended in a crushing defeat. 
However, gathering his forces together, he set out to march 
rapidly across country in pursuit of Morgan, hoping to 
overwhelm him and recapture the six hundred British 
prisoners before he could join Greene’s army. 

But Morgan was too wary to be caught napping, and, 
suspecting that this would be Cornwallis’s game, he re¬ 
treated rapidly in a northeasterly direction toward that 
part of the army under Greene. 

Meantime Greene had heard the glorious news of the 
American victory at Cowpens, and he too realized that 
there was great danger of Morgan’s falling into the hands 
of Cornwallis. To prevent this, and at the same time 
draw Cornwallis far away from his supplies at Wilmington, 
he decided to go to Morgan’s relief. 


NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES 81 

Sending his army by an easier, roundabout route, he 
himself with a small guard rode swiftly a distance of one 
hundred and fifty miles across the rough country and 
joined Morgan on the last day of January. 

Morgan was cleverly retreating with Cornwallis in hot 
pursuit. For ten days the race for life continued, with the 
chances in favor of Cornwallis, for his army was larger, 
besides being trained and disciplined. 

This was a famous retreat. It covered a distance of 
two hundred miles through the Carolinas, across three rivers 
whose waters, swollen by recent rains, rose rapidly after the 
Americans had crossed, and checked the British in their 
pursuit. When the last river, the Dan, was forded, the 
chase was so close that the rear of the retreating army 
had a skirmish with the van of the pursuers. Yet Greene 
was so alert and skilful that he escaped every danger and 
saved his army. 

In this trying campaign valuable aid was given by 
“partisans” in the south. These were private companies, 
not part of the regular army. Such companies had been 
formed in the south by both sides, and that is why they 
were called “ partisans. ” 

MARION, THE “SWAMP FOX” 

Perhaps the most noted partisan leader was Francis 
Marion, of South Carolina. He was born in Georgetown, 

South Carolina, in 1732, and was therefore the same age as 

7 


82 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Washington. Although as a child he was very frail, he 
became strong as he grew older. As a man he was short 
and slight of frame, but strong and hardy in consti¬ 
tution. 

When the British began to swarm into South Carolina, 
Marion raised and drilled a company of neighbors and 

friends, known as “ Marion’s 
Brigade.” These men were 
without uniforms or tents, and 
they served without pay. They 
did not look much like soldiers 
on parade, but were among the 
bravest and best fighters of the 
Revolution. Their swords were 
beaten out of old mill-saws at 
the country forge, and their 

Francis Marion. in, i i i r 

bullets were made largely from 
pewter mugs and other pewter utensils. Their rations 
were very scant and simple. Marion, their leader, as a 
rule, ate hominy and potatoes and drank water flavored 
with a little vinegar. 

The story is told that one day a British officer came to 
the camp with a flag of truce. After the officers had talked, 
Marion, with his usual delicate courtesy, invited the visitor 
to dinner. We can imagine the Englishman’s surprise 
when, on a log which made the camp table, there was 
served a dinner consisting only of roasted sweet potatoes 














NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES 83 


passed on pieces of bark! The officer was still more 
amazed to learn that even potatoes were something of a 
luxury. 

Marion’s brigade of farmers and hunters seldom num¬ 
bered more than seventy, and often less than twenty. 


I? 



Marion Surprising a British Wagon-Train. 


But with this veiy small force he annoyed the British be¬ 
yond measure by rescuing prisoners, and by capturing 
supply-trains and outposts. 

One day a scout brought in the report that a party of 
ninety British with two hundred prisoners were on the 
march for Charleston. Waiting for the darkness to con¬ 
ceal his movements, Marion with thirty men sallied out,, 









84 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


swooped down upon the British camp, capturing the entire 
force and rescuing all the American prisoners. 

It was the custom of Marion’s men, when hard pressed 
by a superior force, to scatter, each man looking out for 
himself. Often they would dash headlong into a dense, 
dark swamp, to meet again at some place agreed upon. 
Even while they were still in hiding, they would some¬ 
times dart out just as suddenly as they had vanished, and 
surprise another squad of British which might be near at 
hand. “Swamp Fox” was the name the British gave to 
Marion. 

With the aid of such partisan bands, and with skilful 
handling of his army, Greene was more than a match for 
Cornwallis. He was not strong enough just yet for a 
pitched battle, but he kept Cornwallis chasing without 
losing his own army. That was about all he could hope to 
do for a while. 

But when he received recruits from Virginia, he thought 
it wise to strike a blow, even though he could not win a 
victory. Turning, therefore, upon his enemy, he fought a 
battle at Guilford Court House, North Carolina (March, 
1781). 

He was defeated, but came off as well as he expected, 
and so crippled the British army that Cornwallis had to 
retreat. He went to the coast to get supplies for his half- 
starved men. Like the battle of Bunker Hill, it was a 
dearly bought victory for the British. 


NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES 85 

Cornwallis now saw clearly that he could not hope 
longer for success in the south, and having taken on fresh 
supplies, he marched northward to try his luck at York- 
town, Virginia. 

Washington, with an army of French and American 
troops, was at the time in camp on the Hudson River, 
waiting for the coming of the French fleet to New York. 
That city was still in the hands of the British. As soon 
as this fleet should arrive, Washington expected to attack 
the British army in New York by land, while the fleet 
attacked it by sea. 

But the French fleet was well on its way to the Chesa¬ 
peake instead of to New York as expected. When this 
information came to Washington, he worked out a bold 
and brilliant scheme. It was to march his army as quickly 
and as secretly as possible to Yorktown, a distance of four 
hundred miles, there join the American army under La¬ 
fayette, and, combining with the French fleet on its arrival, 
capture the British under Cornwallis. 

This daring scheme succeeded so well that Cornwallis 
surrendered his entire army of eight thousand men on 
October 19, 1781. This important event, which practically 
ended the war, we shall speak of again. 

The surrender at Yorktown ended the fighting, although 
the treaty of peace was not signed until 1783. By that 
treaty the Americans won their independence from Eng¬ 
land. The country which they could now call their own 


86 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


extended from Canada to Florida, and from the Atlantic 
Ocean to the Mississippi River. 

After the treaty of peace was signed, and the army 
disbanded, General Greene went home. In 1785 he moved 
with his family to a plantation which the State of Georgia 
had given him. Here he lived in quiet and happiness, but 
only a short time, for he died of sunstroke at the age of 
forty-four. His comrade Anthony Wayne, voiced the feel¬ 
ing of his countrymen when he said: “I have seen a great 
and good man die.” 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell what you can about General Greene’s early life. 

2. What was the condition of his army when he took command in 

the South ? How did he prove his strength at that time ? 

3. What kind of man was Daniel Morgan, and what do you think of 

him? 

4. Tell all you can about Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” and his ways 

of making trouble for the British. 

5. When did the Revolution begin? When did it end? What dio 

the Americans win by the treaty? What was the extent of 
our country at that time? 


CHAPTER VI 


JOHN PAUL JONES 

While the Revolution was being fought out on the 
land, important battles were taking place also at sea. 
Until this war began, the Americans had had no need of 

a navy because the mother 
country had protected them. 
But when unfriendly feeling 
arose, Congress ordered war 
vessels to be built. These 
were very useful in capturing 
British vessels, many of which 
were loaded with arms and 
ammunition intended for Brit¬ 
ish soldiers. Powder, as you 
will remember, was sorely 
needed by Washington’s army. 

Among the men who commanded the American war 
vessels were some noted sea-captains, the most famous of 
whom was John Paul Jones. 

He was of Scottish birth. His father, John Paul, was 
a gardener, who lived on the southwestern coast of Scot¬ 
land. The cottage in which our hero spent his early boy- 

87 



John Paul Jones. 



88 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


hood days stood near the beautiful bay called Solway Firth, 
which made a safe harbor for ships in time of storm. 

Here little John Paul heard many sailors tell thrilling 
stories of adventure at sea and in far-away lands. Here, 
also, to the inlets along the shore, the active lad and his 
playmates took their tiny boats and made believe they were 
sailors, John Paul always acting as captain. Sometimes 
when he was tired and all alone, he would sit by the hour 
watching the big waves rolling in, and dreaming perhaps 
of the day when he would become a great sea-captain. 

When he was only twelve, he wished to begin his life 
as a real sailor. So his father apprenticed him to a mer¬ 
chant at Whitehaven who owned a vessel and traded in 
goods brought from other lands. Soon afterward John 
Paul went on a voyage to Virginia, where the vessel was to 
be loaded with tobacco. While there he visited an older 
brother, who owned a plantation at Fredericksburg. 

For six years John Paul remained with the Whitehaven 
merchant, and during this time he learned much about good 
seamanship. After the merchant failed in business, John 
Paul still continued to follow a seafaring life, and in a short 
time became a captain. But when his brother in Virginia 
died, John Paul went to Fredericksburg to manage the 
plantation his brother had left. 

It was now his intention to spend the rest of his life 
here, but, like Patrick Henry, he failed as a farmer. In 
fact, it would seem that he was born to be a sailor. 


JOHN PAUL JONES 


89 


In the meantime he had come to be a loyal American, 
and when the Revolution broke out he determined to 
offer his services to Congress. When he did so, he changed 
his name to John Paul Jones. Just why, we do not know. 



Battle Between the Ranger and the Drake. 


Congress accepted his services by appointing him first 
lieutenant. He proved himself so able that in the second 
year of the war he was put in command of two vessels, with 
which he captured sixteen prizes in six weeks. 

In the following year he was appointed captain of the 
Ranger and sent to France with letters to Benjamin Frank¬ 
lin, who was then American commissioner at the French 
court, trying to secure aid for the American cause. 







90 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


At that time English vessels were annoying American 
coasts by burning and destroying property. Jones got per¬ 
mission from Franklin to attack British coasts in the same 
wav, and he was allowed to sail from France in his vessel 
with that purpose in view. 

His plan was to sail along the western coast of England 
and set fire to the large shipping-yards at Whitehaven, with 
which harbor, you remember, he had become familiar in 
boyhood. He meant to burn all the three hundred vessels 
lying at anchor there. Although he succeeded in setting 
fire to only one large ship, he alarmed the people all along 
the coast. The warning was carried from town to town: 
“Beware of Paul Jones, the pirate!” 

An English war vessel, the Drake, was sent out to cap¬ 
ture the Ranger. As the Drake carried two more guns and 
a crew better drilled for fighting, it was thought she would 
make short work of the American ship in a fight. But it 
was just the other way, for after a battle of a single hour 
the English vessel surrendered, having lost many men. 
The American loss was only two men killed and six 
wounded. 

After this brilliant victory the young captain put back 
to France. There he found great rejoicing among the peo¬ 
ple, whose good-will was more with America than with 
England. And as war had already broken out between 
France and England, the French King was quite willing to 
furnish Jones with a considerable naval force. 


JOHN PAUL JONES 


91 


A DESPERATE SEA DUEL 

Accordingly, in August, 1779, Captain Jones put to sea 
once more, this time with a fleet of four vessels. He named 
his flag-ship Bon Homme Richard (bo-nom'-re -shar'), after 
the Richard of Poor Richard’s Almanac, which xr ou will 
remember Benjamin Franklin had written. 

In this ship, which was old, he set out to cruise along 
the western coast of Ireland, in order to capture English 
merchant vessels. After reaching the southern point of 
Ireland, he cruised northward around Scotland and down 
its eastern coast. Then he sailed up and down the eastern 
coast of England, looking for merchant vessels. 

At noon on the 23d of September Jones sighted a fleet 
of forty-two merchantmen, guarded by two English ships 
of war, all sailing from the north. He at once decided to 
make an attack. This took place early in the evening, 
the action being mainly between the Richard and the 
English man-of-war Serapis, which was a large ship, new 
and swift, and very much better than the Richard. 

During the first hour the American vessel got the worst 
of the fight and “was leaking like a basket.’ 7 The English 
captain, feeling sure of victory, called out: “Has your ship 
struck?” Our hero, Paul Jones, shouted back: “I have 
not yet begun to fight!” 

As the British vessel came alongside his own for a more 
deadly struggle, Jones with his own hands lashed the two 


92 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


together. Soon both were badly leaking; but the fighting 
went on as fiercely as ever. Presently both caught fire. 

Then Jones turned his cannon upon the mainmast of 
the SerapiS; and when it threatened to fall the English cap- 



The Fight Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis. 


tain surrendered. So after all it was the English ship and 
not the American that “struck’ 7 the flag. But the Richard 
could not have held out much longer, for even before the 
surrender she had begun to sink. 

When the English captain gave up his sword to John 
Paul Jones, he said: “It is very hard to surrender to a man 
who has fought with a halter around his neck.” You see, 








JOHN PAUL JONES 


93 


Captain Jones would have been hanged as a pirate, if taken. 
Jones replied: “Sir, you have fought like a hero. I hope 
your King will reward you/’ 

This was a desperate sea duel, and it lasted from half 
past seven in the evening until ten o’clock. It was im¬ 
portant also in its results, for it won much needed respect 
for our flag and gave a wonderful uplift to the American 
cause. The victor, John Paul Jones, who was loaded with 
honors, from that day took rank with the great sea-cap¬ 
tains of the world. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about the early life of John Paul Jones. 

2. Why did the English call him a pirate when he was sailing along 

the British coasts in order to destroy property? 

3. What was the outcome of the desperate sea duel between the 

Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis ? 

4. What do you admire about John Paul Jones? 

5. Do not fail to locate every event upon the map. 


CHAPTER VII 


DANIEL BOONE 

You remember that when the Last French War began, 
in 1756, the English colonists lived almost entirely east of 
the Alleghany Mountains. If you will look at your map, 
you will see how small a part of our present great country 
they occupied. 

Even up to the beginning of the Revolution the Ameri¬ 
cans had few settlers west of the Alleghanies, and had done 
very little there to make good their claims to land. 

Yet at the close of the war we find that their western 
boundary-line had been pushed back as far as the Missis¬ 
sippi River. How this was done we shall see if we turn 
our attention to those earlv hunters and backwoodsmen 
who did great service to our country as pioneers in open¬ 
ing up new lands. 

One of the most famous of these was Daniel Boone. 
He was born in Pennsylvania, and, like many of the heroes 
of the Revolution, he was born in the “thirties” (1735). 

As a boy, Daniel liked to wander in the woods with 
musket and fishing-rod, and was never so happy as when 
alone in the wild forest. The story is told that while a 
mere lad he wandered one day into the woods some dis- 

94 


DANIEL BOONE 


95 


tance from home and built himself a rough shelter of logs, 
where he would spend days at a time, with only his rifle 
for company. 

As he was a ‘‘good shot/’ we may be sure he never went 
hungry for lack of food. The game which his rifle brought 
down he would cook over a 
pile of burning sticks. If you 
have done outdoor camp cook¬ 
ing, you can almost taste its 
woodland flavor. Then at night 
as he lay under the star-lit sky 
on a bed of leaves, with the 
skin of a wild animal for cover¬ 
ing, a prince might have envied 
his dreamless slumber. 

This free, wild life made 
him thoroughly at home in the forests, and trained him 
for the work he was to do later as a fearless hunter and 
woodsman. 

When Daniel was about thirteen years old his father 
removed to North Carolina and settled on the Yadkin 
River. There the boy grew to manhood. After his mar¬ 
riage, at twenty, he built himself a hut far out in the lonely 
forest, beyond the homes of the other settlers. 

But he was a restless man and looked with longing 
toward the rugged mountains on the west. Along the foot¬ 
hills other pioneer settlers and hunters had taken up their 



Daniel Boone. 




96 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


abode. And young Boone’s imagination leaped to the 
country beyond the mountains, where the forest stretched 
for miles upon miles, no one knew how far, to the Missis¬ 
sippi River. It was an immense wilderness teeming with 
game, and he wanted to hunt and explore in it. 

He was twenty-five when he made the first Hong hunt” 
we know about. At this time he went as far as what is 
now Boone’s Creek, in eastern Tennessee. 

Other trips doubtless he made which increased his love 
for wandering; and in 1769, nine years after his first trip, 
having heard from a stray Indian of a wonderful hunting- 
ground far to the west, he started out with this Indian 
and four other men to wander through the wilderness of 
Kentucky. 

For five weeks these bold hunters threaded their way 
through lonely and pathless mountain forests, facing many 
dangers from wild beasts and Indians. 

BOONE GOES TO KENTUCKY 

But when, in June, they reached the blue-grass region 
of Kentucky, a beautiful land of stretching prairies, lofty 
forests, and running streams, they felt well repaid for all 
the hardships of their long journey. It was indeed as the 
Indian had said, alive with game. Buffaloes, wolves, bears, 
elk, deer, and wild beasts of many kinds abounded, making 
truly a hunter’s paradise. 

They at once put up a log shelter, and for six months 


DANIEL BOONE 


( J7 


they hunted to their hearts’ content. Then one day two 
of the party, Boone himself and a man named Stewart, 
while off on a hunting expedition, were captured by an 
Indian band. For several days the dusky warriors care- 



Boone’s Escape from the Indians. 


fully guarded the two white captives. But on the seventh 
night, having eaten greedily of game they had killed during 
the day, they fell into a sound sleep. 

Then Boone, who had been watching for this chance, 
arose quietly from his place among the sleeping Indians 
and gently wakened Stewart. The two crept stealthily 
away until out of hearing of the Indians, when, rising to 
their feet, they bounded off like deer through the dark 
woods to their own camp. But they found no one there, 
for the rest of the party had fled back home. 

However, Boone and Stewart stayed on, and some 

■8 






98 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


weeks later they were pleasantly surprised when Daniel’s 
brother, Squire Boone, also a woodsman, unexpectedly ar-. 
rived with another man and joined the camp. The four 
were quite contented, living and hunting together, until 
one day Stewart was shot by an Indian and killed. His 
death so frightened the man who had come over the moun¬ 
tains with Squire Boone, that the woods lost their charm 
for the poor fellow and he went back home. 

So only the two brothers were left. They remained 
together three months longer in a little cabin in the forest. 
Then, as their powder and lead were getting low, Squire 
Boone returned to North Carolina for a fresh supply, leav¬ 
ing his brother to hold the hunting-ground. 

Now Boone was left all alone. His life was continually 
in danger from the Indians. For fear of being surprised, 
he dared not sleep in camp, but hid himself at night in the 
cane-brake or thick underbrush, not even kindling a fire 
lest he should attract the Indians. 

During these weeks of waiting for his brother, he led 
a very lonely life. In all that time he did not speak to 
a single human being, nor had he even a dog, cat, or horse 
for company. Without salt, sugar, or flour, his sole food 
was the game he shot or caught in traps. 

How gladly he must have welcomed his brother, who 
returned at the end of two months, bringing the needed 
supplies! Other hunters also came from time to time, and 
Boone joined one party of them for a while. 


DANIEL BOONE 


99 


After two years of his life in the woods he returned to 
his home on the Yadkin to bring out his wife and children. 

liy September, 1773, he had sold his farm and was ready 
with his family to go and settle in Kentucky. He had 
praised the new land so much that many others wished 
to go with him. So when he started there were, besides 
his wife and children, five families and forty men driving 
their horses and cattle before them. This group was the 
first to attempt settlement far out in the wilderness, away 
from the other settlers. 

But while still on its way, the little company was set 
upon by a band of Indians near a narrow and difficult 
pass in the mountains. Six men were killed, among them 
Boone’s eldest son, and the cattle were scattered. This 
misfortune brought such gloom upon the party that all 
turned back for a time to a settlement on the Clinch River. 

But Daniel Boone was one of those who would not give 
up. He said of himself that he was “ ordained of God to 
settle the wilderness,” and in the end he carried out his 
unflinching purpose to make his home in the beautiful 
Kentucky region. 

This region had already become well known by report 
east of the mountains. The Indians called it “a dark and 
bloody ground,” for, as an old chief told Boone, many 
tribes hunted and fought there, and the Indians had roamed 
over it for hundreds of years. 

But none of the tribes really owned the land. So it 


100 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


was not possible to buy any part of it outright. Yet, to 
avoid strife, a friend of Boone’s, Richard Henderson, and a 
few others made treaties with the most powerful tribe, 
the Cherokees, who said that they might settle there. 

As soon as it became certain that the Indians would 
not make trouble, Henderson sent Boone, in charge of 
thirty men, to open a pathway from the Holston River 
through Cumberland Gap to the Kentucky River. 

With their axes the men chopped out a path through 
the dense undergrowth and cane-brakes broad enough for 
a pack-horse. You will be interested to know that this 
bridle-path was the beginning of the famous “ Wilderness 
Road,” as it is still called. Later the narrow trail was 
widened into a highway for wagons, and it was along this 
way, rightly called a “ wilderness road,” that in later years 
so many thousand settlers led their pack-trains over the 
mountains into Kentucky and Tennessee. 

But that is taking a long look ahead! Just now we are 
thinking about the very first of these settlers, Daniel Boone 
and his company. 

THE KENTUCKY SETTLERS AT BOONESBOROUGH 

When they reached the Kentucky River, Boone and his 
followers built a fort on the left bank of the stream and 
called it Boonesborough. Its four walR consisted in part 
of the outer sides of log cabins, and in part of a stockade, 
some twelve feet high, made by setting deep into the ground 


DANIEL BOONE 


101 


stout posts with pointed tops. In all the cabins there were 
loopholes through which to shoot, and at each corner of 
the fort stood a loophole blockhouse. There were also two 
strong wooden 
gates on opposite 
sides of the fort. 

After the fort 
was built, Boone 
went back to the 
Clinch River and 
brought on his 
wife and chil¬ 
dren. When they 
settled, it was 
springtime, and 
Kentucky was at 
its best. Trees 
were in leaf, the beautiful dogwood was in flower, and the 
woods were fragrant with the blossoms of May. Do you 
wonder that they loved their new home? 

At first the cattle and horses were always driven into 
the fort at night. Later, however, every settler had a cabin 
in his own clearing, where he lived with his family and took 
care of his own stock. But even then in time of great 
danger all went to the fort, driving their animals inside its 
walls. This fort, with the outlying cabins, made the first 
permanent settlement in Kentucky. 

































































102 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Boone was a man you would have liked to know. Even 
the Indians admired him. He was tall and slender, with 
muscles of iron, and so healthy and strong that he could 
endure great hardship. Though quiet and serious, his 
courage never shrank in the face of danger, and men 
believed in him because he believed in himself, while at 
the same time his kind heart and tender sympathy won 
him lasting friendships. These vigorous and sterling quali¬ 
ties commanded respect everywhere. 

As a rule he wore the Indian garb of fur cap, fringed 
hunting-shirt, moccasins and leggings, all made from the 
skins of wild animals he had taken. This dress best suited 
the wilderness life. 

Of course, this life in a new country would not be with¬ 
out its exciting adventures. One day, some months after 
Boone’s family had come to Boonesborough, Boone’s daugh¬ 
ter, with two girl friends, was on the river floating in a boat 
near the bank. Suddenly five Indians darted out of the 
woods, seized the three girls, and hurried away with them. 
In their flight the Indians observed the eldest of the girls 
breaking twigs and dropping them in their trail. They 
threatened to tomahawk her unless she stopped it. But, 
watching her chance, from time to time she tore off strips 
of her dress and dropped them as a clew for those she 
knew would come to rescue them. 

When the capture became known, Boone, accompanied 
by the three lovers of the captured maidens and four other 


DANIEL BOONE 


103 


men from the fort, started upon the trail and kept up the 
pursuit until, early on the second morning, they discovered 
the Indians sitting around a fire cooking breakfast. Sud¬ 
denly the white men fired a volley, killing two of the In¬ 
dians and frightening the others so badly that they beat 
a hasty retreat without harming the girls. 

Another exciting experience, which nearly caused the 
settlement to lose its leader, came about through the set¬ 
tlers’ need of salt. We can get salt so easily that it is hard 
to imagine the difficulty which those settlers, living far 
back from the ocean, had in obtaining this necessary part 
of their food. Thev had to go to “ salt-licks,” as they 
called the grounds about the salt-water springs. The 
men would get the salt water from the springs and boil 
it until all the water evaporated and left the salt behind. 

Boone with twenty-nine other men had gone, early in 
1778, to the Blue Licks to make salt for the settlement. 
They were so successful that in a few weeks they were able 
to send back a load so large that it took three men to carry 
it. Hardly had they started, however, when the men re¬ 
maining, including Boone, were surprised by eighty or ninety 
Indians, captured, and carried off to the English at Detroit. 

For we must not forget that all this time, while we have 
been following Boone’s fortunes west of the xAlleghanies, 
on the east side of those mountains the Revolution was 
being fought, and the Indians west of the Alleghanies were 
fighting on the English side. They received a sum of 


104 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


money for handing over to the English at Detroit any 
Americans they might capture, and that is why the Indians 
took Boone and his companions to that place. 

But, strangely enough, the Indians decided not to give 
Boone up, although the English, realizing that he was a 
prize, offered five hundred dollars for him. The Indians 
admired him because he was a mighty hunter, and they 
liked him because he was cheerful. So they adopted him 
into the tribe and took him to their home. 

Boone remained with them two months, making the 
best of the life he had to lead. But when he overheard the 
Indians planning to make an attack upon Boonesborough, 
he made up his mind to escape if possible and give his 
friends warning. 

His own words tell the brave story in a simple way: 
“On the 16th of June, before sunrise, I departed in the 
most secret manner, and arrived in Boonesborough on the 
20th, after a journey of one hundred and sixty miles, dur¬ 
ing which I had but one meal.” He could not get any food, 
for he dared not use his gun nor build a fire for fear his foes 
might find out where he was. He reached the fort in safety, 
and was of great service in beating off the attacking party. 
This is only one of the many narrow escapes of this fearless 
backwoodsman. 

Another incident illustrates his quick wit. One day, 
while he was in a shed looking after some tobacco, four 
Indians with loaded guns appeared at the door. They 


DANIEL BOONE 


105 


said: “Now, Boone, we got you. You no get away any 
more. You no cheat us any more.” While they were 
speaking Boone had gathered up in his arms a number of 
dry tobacco 
leaves. Rub¬ 
bing them to 
dust, he sud¬ 
denly flung it 
into the faces of 
the Indians, fill¬ 
ing their eyes 
and nostrils. 

Then, while they 
were coughing, 
sneezing, and 
rubbing their 
eyes, he escaped. 

These are but 
a few of Boone’s 
dangerous adventures. From them all he came out safe 
and for years continued to be the able leader of the set¬ 
tlers at Boonesborough. 

There he remained until after Kentucky was admitted 
as a State into the Union (1791). Four years later he 
moved still farther west, led on by love for the wild, lonely 
life of the forest, a life which never lost its charm for him, 
even down to his last days. 



Boone Throwing Tobacco into the Eyes of the Indians 
Who Had Come to Capture Him. 

















106 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


He died in 1820, eighty-five years old, his long life 
covering a period of very great change in the growth of 
our country. By that time we had become a nation with 
broadly expanded boundaries. 

It has been said that but for Daniel Boone the settle¬ 
ment of Kentucky could not have been made for several 
years. However this may be, we know that he was one 
of those fearless and daring men whose courage helped to 
establish that part of our country long known as “ the West.” 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What kind of boyhood had Daniel Boone? 

2. Imagine yourself to have been in his place during the weeks when 

he was alone in the Kentucky forests; give an account of 
what happened. 

3. Tell about his second capture by the Indians and his escape. 

Why did they admire him ? 

4. What did he do for Kentucky? What kind of man was he? 


CHAPTER VIII 
JAMES ROBERTSON 


Another pioneer who lived in Boone’s day was James 
Robertson. Like Boone ; he came from North Carolina; 
and he led the way for the settling of Tennessee very much 
as Boone did for Kentucky. The story of those days shows 
that he was one of the most forceful and 
successful of the early English pioneers 
who led out settlements west of the Alle- 
ghanies. 

Born in 1742 ; Robertson was ten years 
younger than Washington. But this boy’s 
early life was very different from young 
George Washington’s; for little James was 
born in a backwoods cabin ; and his father 
and mother were too poor to send him to school. So he 
grew up to manhood without being able to read and write. 

But he wanted to study, and was persevering and brave 

enough to learn the letters of the alphabet and how to spell 

and to write after he had grown to manhood. We can be 

sure ; therefore; that James was the right sort of boy ; and that 

he would have mastered books if he had been given the 

chance, just as he mastered the wilderness in later life. But 

107 



James Robertson. 



108 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


it is as a backwoodsman that we first come to know Robert¬ 
son and learn why he was trusted and followed so willingly. 

Although not tall, he was vigorous and robust, having 
fair complexion, dark hair, and honest blue eyes that met 
one’s glance squarely. His frank, serious face, his quiet 
manner, and his coolness and daring in the midst of danger 
gave him a mastery over others such as it is given but few 
men to have. 

Like Boone, he was noted as a successful hunter; but 
hunting and exploring were not with him the chief motives 
for going into the wilderness. He was first of all a pioneer 
settler who was seeking rich farming lands with near-by 
springs, where he could make a good home for his family 
and give his children advantages which he himself had 
never enjoyed. 

Led by this motive, he left his home in North Carolina 
to seek his fortune among the forest-clad mountains, whose 
summits he could see far away to the west. With no com¬ 
panion but his horse and no protection but his rifle, he 
slowly and patiently made his way through the trackless 
woods, crossing mountain range after mountain range, until 
he came to the region where the rivers flowing westward 
had their beginning. 

Much to his surprise, he found here on the Watauga 
River some settlers from Virginia, who gave him a kindly 
welcome. He stayed long enough to plant a crop of corn 
and see it grow up and ripen. 


JAMES ROBERTSON 


109 


Then, late in the autumn, having decided that this was 
a good place for his family, he started back home. His 
faithful horse was his only companion. Some corn in his 
leather wallet was all the food he carried. He trusted his 
rifle for the rest. 

All went well for a time, but in the depth of the path¬ 
less forest he missed his way, and the mountains became 



so steep and rough that his horse could not get across. 
Imagine his sorrow when, to save his own life, he had to 
part from his dumb friend and start on alone. 

Other misfortunes befell him. The little store of corn 
that he had brought with him gave out, and his powder 
became so wet that it was useless for shooting game. So 
almost his only food for fourteen days was such nuts and 
berries as he could gather in his desperate search. 

He was near death by starvation when he chanced to 











110 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


meet two hunters. They gave him food and asked him to 
join them. Then, allowing him to take turns in riding 
their horses, they helped him to reach home in safety. 

You might think that this bitter experience would have 
made Robertson unwilling to risk another journey back 
through the wilderness. But, as we have said, he was not 
easily thwarted, and the thought of what lay beyond the 
mountains made him hold the cost light. 

He gave such glowing accounts of the wonderful coun¬ 
try he had seen that by spring sixteen families were ready 
to go with him to make their home there. 

HOW THE BACKWOODSMEN LIVED 

Let us in imagination join this group of travellers as it 
starts out to cross the mountains. Each family has its 
pack-horse—perhaps a few families have two—carrying 
household goods. These are not so bulky as ours to-day, 
for pioneer life is simple, and the people have at most only 
what they need. There are, of course, some rolls of bedding 
and clothing, a few cooking utensils, a few packages of salt 
and seed corn, and a flask or two of medicine. The pack- 
horse carries also the mother and perhaps a very small child 
or two. The boys who are old enough to shoulder rifles 
march in front with their father, ready to shoot game for 
food or to stand guard against Indians. Some of the older 
children drive the cows which the settlers are taking along 
with them. 


JAMES ROBERTSON 


ill 


After reaching the place selected for their settlement, 
the younger children are set to clearing away the brush and 
piling it up in heaps ready for burning. The father and 
the elder sons, who are big enough to wield an axe, lose no 



Living-Room of the Early Settler, 


time in cutting down trees and making a clearing for the 
log cabin. All work with a will, and soon the cabin is 
ready. 

The furniture, like the cabin itself, is rude and simple. 
A bedstead is set up in a corner, a washstand is placed 
near by, and a few three-legged stools are put here and 
there; and of course there is a table to eat at. Places are 
quickly found for the water bucket, used to bring water 
from the stream, the gourd dipper with which to fill it, and 
































































































112 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


other small utensils; while pegs driven into the wall in 
convenient places hold clothes, rifles, skins, and the like. 

If our pioneers are well-to-do, there may be tucked 
away in some pack a v^ool blanket, but usually the chief 

covering on the bed 
is the dried skin of 
some animal: deer, 
bear, or perhaps 
buffalo. 

There is plenty 
of food, though of 
course it is plain 
and simple, con¬ 
sisting mostly of 
game. Instead of 
the pork and beef 
which are largely 
eaten in the east, 
w’e shall find these 
settlers making their meal of bear’s meat or venison. 

For flour corn-meal is used. Each family has a mill 
for grinding the kernels into meal, while for beating it into 
hominy they use a crude mortar, made perhaps by burning 
a hole in the top of a block of wood. 

Bread-making is a simpler matter with them than with 
us, for a dough of corn-meal is mixed on a w T ooden trencher 
and then either baked in the ashes and called ash-cake or 





















JAMES ROBERTSON 


113 


before the fire on a board and called johnny-cake. Corn- 
meal is also made into mush, or hasty pudding; and when 
the settler has cows, mush-and-milk is a common dish, 
especially for supper. 

For butter the settlers use the fat of bear’s meat or the 
gravy of the goose. Instead of coffee, they make a drink 
of parched rye and beans, and for tea they boil sassafras 

root. 

Every backwoodsman must be able to use the rifle to 
good effect, for he has to provide his own meat and protect 
himself and his family from attack. He must be skilful 
also in hiding, in moving noiselessly through the forests, 
and in imitating the notes and calls of different beasts and 
birds. Sharp eyes and ears must tell him where to look for 
his game, and his aim must be swift and sure. 

But most important of all, he must be able to endure 
hardship and exposure. Sometimes he lives for months in 
the woods with no food but meat and no shelter but a 
lean-to of brush or even the trunk of a hollow tree into 
which he may crawl. 

Deer and bear are the most plentiful game; but now and 
then there is an exciting combat with wolves, panthers, or 
cougars, while prowling Indians keep him ever on his 
guard. The pioneer must be strong, alert, and brave. 

Each family depends upon itself for most of the neces¬ 
saries or life. Each member has his own work. The father 

is the protector and provider; the mother is the housekeeper, 
9 


114 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


the cook, the weaver, and the tailor. Father and sons 
work out-of-doors with axe, hoe, and sickle; while indoors 
the hum of the spinning-wheel or the clatter of the loom 
shows that mother and daughters are busily doing their 
part. 

There are some articles, however, like salt and iron, 
which the settlers cannot always get in the backwoods. 
These they must obtain by barter. So each family col¬ 
lects all the furs it can, and once a year, after the harvest 
is gathered, loads them on pack-horses, which are driven 
across the mountains to some large trading town on the 
seacoast. There the skins are traded for the needed iron 
or salt. 

Often many neighbors plan to go together on such a 
journey. Sometimes they drive before them their steers 
and hogs to find a market in the east. 

A bushel of salt costs in these early days a good cow 
and calf. Now, that is a great deal to pay; and further¬ 
more, as each small and poorly fed pack-animal can carry 
but two bushels, salt is a highly prized article. Since it is 
so expensive and hard to get, it has to be used sparingly by 
the mountaineers. Therefore the housewife, instead of 
salting or pickling her meat, preserves or “jerks” it by 
drying it in the sun or smoking it over the fire. 

The Tennessee settler, like Boone’s followers in Ken¬ 
tucky, dresses very much like the Indians, for that is the 
easiest and most fitting way in which to clothe himself 


JAMES ROBERTSON 


115 


for the forest life he leads. And very fine do many stalwart 
figures appear in the fur cap and moccasins, the loose trou¬ 
sers, or simply leggings of buckskin, and the fringed hunt¬ 
ing-shirt reaching nearly to the knees. It is held in by 
a broad belt having a tomahawk in one side and a knife 
in the other. 

While this free outdoor life develops strong and vigor¬ 
ous bodies, there is not much schooling in these back- 
woods settle¬ 
ments. Most 
boys and girls 
learn very little 
except reading 
and writing and 
veiy simple ci- 

i A Kentucky Pioneer’s Cabin. 

phermg, or arith¬ 
metic. If there are any schoolhouses at all, they are log 
huts, dimly lighted and furnished very scantily and rudely. 

The schoolmaster, as a rule, does not know much of 
books, and is quite untrained as a teacher. His discipline, 
though severe, is veiy poor. And he is paid in a way that 
may seem strange to you. He receives very little in cash, 
and for the rest of his wages he “ boards around ” with the 
families of the children he teaches, making his stay longer 
or shorter according to the number of children in school. 

In many ways, as you see, the life of the pioneer child, 
while it was active and full of interest, was very different 












116 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


from yours. He learned; like his elders ; to imitate bird 
calls, to set traps, to shoot a rifle, and at twelve the little 
lad became a foot soldier. He knew from just which loop¬ 
hole he was to shoot if the Indians attacked the fort, and 
he took pride in becoming a good marksman. He was 
carefully trained, too, to follow an Indian trail and to con¬ 
ceal his own when on the war-path—for such knowledge 
would be very useful to him as a hunter and fighter in 
the forests. 


ROBERTSON A BRAVE LEADER 

Such was the life of these early woodsmen and their 

families, and to this life Robertson and those who went 

out with him soon became accustomed. On their arrival 
at the Watauga River the newcomers mingled readily with 
the Virginians already on the ground. 

Robertson soon became one of the leading men. His 
cabin of logs stood on an island in the river, and is said 
to have been the largest in the settlement. It had a log 

veranda in front, several rooms, a loft, and best of all, a 

huge fireplace made of sticks and stones laid in clay, in 
which a pile of blazing logs roared on cold days, making 
it a centre of good cheer as well as of heat. To us it would 
have been a most inviting spot for a summer holiday. 

Robertson was very prosperous and successful at Wa¬ 
tauga; but in 1799, after ten years of leadership at this 
settlement, a restless craving for change and adventure 


JAMES ROBERTSON 


117 


stole over him, and he went forth once more into the wil¬ 
derness to seek a new home still deeper in the forest. 

The place he chose was the beautiful country lying 
along the great bend of the Cumberland River, where 
Nashville now stands. Many bold settlers were ready and 
even eager to join Robertson in the new venture, for he 
was a born leader. 

A small party went ahead early in the spring to plant 
corn, so that the settlers might have food when they ar¬ 
rived in the autumn. Robertson and eight other men, who 
made up the party, left the Watauga by the Wilderness 
Road through Cumberland Gap, crossing the Cumberland 
River. Then, following the trail of wild animals in a south¬ 
westerly direction, they came to a suitable place. 

Here they put up cabins and planted corn, and then, 
leaving three men to keep the buffaloes from eating the 
corn when it came up, the other six returned to Watauga. 

In the autumn two parties started out for the new settle¬ 
ment. One of these, made up mostly of women and chil¬ 
dren, went by water in flatboats, dugouts, and canoes, a 
route supposed to be easier though much the longer of the 
two. Whether it was easier, we shall see. The other party, 
including Robertson himself, went by land, hoping thus to 
reach the place of settlement in time to make ready for 
those coming by water. 

Robertson and his men arrived about Christmas. Then 
began a tedious four months of waiting for the others. It 


118 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


was springtime again, April 24, when they at last arrived. 
Their roundabout route had taken them down the Tennes¬ 
see River, then up the Ohio, and lastly up the Cumberland. 
The Indians in ambush on the river banks had attacked 
them many times during their long and toilsome journey, 
and the boats were so slow and clumsy that it was impos¬ 
sible for them to escape the flights of arrows. 

But when they arrived, past troubles were soon forgotten, 
and with good heart, now that all were together, the settlers 
took up the work of making homes. 

However, difficulties with the Indians were not over. 
The first company of settlers that arrived had been left 
quite unmolested. But now, as spring opened, bands of 
Indian hunters and warriors began to make life wretched 
for them all. There is no doubt that the red men did not 
like to have the settlers kill the game, or scare it off by 
clearing up the land; but the principal motive for the 
attacks was the desire for scalps and plunder, just as it 
was in assailing other Indian tribes. 

The Indians became a constant terror. They killed 
the settlers while working in the clearings, hunting game, 
or getting salt at the licks. They loved to lure on the 
unwary by imitating the gobbling of a turkey or the call 
of some wild beast, and then pounce upon their human 
prey. 

As the corn crop, so carefully planned, had been de¬ 
stroyed by heavy freshets in the autumn, the settlers had 


JAMES ROBERTSON 


119 


to scour the woods for food, living on nuts and game. By 
the time winter had set in, they had used up so much of their 
powder and bullets that Robertson resolved to go to Ken¬ 
tucky for more. 

ROBERTSON SAVES THE SETTLEMENT 

He went safely, though quite alone, and returned on 
the evening of January 15 (1780) with a good supply of 
ammunition. You may be sure he had a hearty welcome 
in the fort, where all were gathered. There was much to 
talk about, and they sat up till late into the night. All 
went to bed, tired and sleepy, without any fear. For at 
that season of the year the red men seldom molestei 1 them; 
and no sentinels were left on guard. 

Soon all were in deep slumber except Robertson, whose 
sense of lurking danger would not let him sleep. He kept 
feeling that enemies might be near. And he was right. 
For just outside the fort, prowling in the thick underbrush 
and hidden by the great trees, there lay in ambush a band 
of painted warriors, hungry for plunder, eager for scalps. 

They creep forward to their attack. They are very 
cautious, for a bright moon lights up the blockhouses and 
the palisaded fort. 

Suddenly a moving shadow falls upon the moonlit clear¬ 
ing outside the fort. An Indian is stealthily crossing from 
the dark woods to the wall. There he crouches close, to 
be out of sight of the inmates of the fort. Another crouch- 


120 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


ing figure, and another. One by one every feathered war¬ 
rior crosses and keeps close to the palisade. 

The next move is to slide cautiously the strong bar and 
undo the chain which fastens the gate. It is done skilfully 
enough, but the chain clanks or the hinges creak. The 
wakeful Robertson springs quickly to his feet. His keen 
eyes catch sight of the swift, dark figures, moving stealthily 
into the fort. 

“Indians!” he shouts, and off goes his rifle. Instantly 
every settler has snatched the gun lying at his side. In a 
second the shots ring out; and the Indians flee through 
the gate to disappear into the leafy woods. But they have 
lost one man, whom Robertson has shot, and have killed 
or wounded three or four of the settlers. Robertson, by 
keen watchfulness, has saved the fort from capture and his 
comrades from probable torture or death. 

This was only one of many occasions in which Robert¬ 
son’s leadership saved the day. After the Revolution ended 
(1783) the Indians were not so unfriendly, for the English 
were no longer paying them for scalps. People, therefore, 
became less timid about crossing the mountains, and a large 
number migrated from Virginia and North Carolina to the 
Tennessee settlement and made their homes at Nashville. 
As numbers grew larger, dangers became less. 

By this time Robertson had become well known through 
the successful planting of his two settlements, and for the 
wisdom and bravery with which he managed them. As a 


JAMES ROBERTSON 


121 


reward for his valuable services, Washington later on (1790) 
made him a general in the army. In 1S14 he died. 

He is the kind of man we like to think of as a pioneer 
in the making of our history. Sturdy and self-reliant, 
strong and fearless, he cheerfully faced the unending struggle 
with the hard conditions of those early days. Though his 
life was narrow, it cut deep in its loyalty to friends and 
country. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. What can you tell of Robertson’s boyhood? 

2. Imagine yourself as one of a group of travellers on the way to 

Kentucky or Tennessee, and tell all you can about the journey. 

3. Tell all you can about the food, clothing, shelter, and other con¬ 

ditions of life in these backwoods settlements. 

4. What sort of training did the pioneer boy receive in school and 

at home? 

5. Why did Robertson plant a settlement at the place where Nash¬ 

ville now stands ? 

6. How did he save this settlement from the Indians? What do 

you admire about him? 

7. Are you making frequent use of the map ? 


CHAPTER IX 


JOHN SEVIER 

Another daring leader who did much to build up the 
settlements in Tennessee was John Sevier. 

Born in 1745, Sevier was but three years younger than 
Robertson, and was closely associated with him in later 

life. Sevier’s birthplace was in 
the western part of Virginia, but 
while he was still a young boy, 
the family was driven from their 
home by the Indians and went to 
Fredericksburg, Virginia. There 
he went to the same school which 
George Washington had attended 
not many years before. 

John Sevier. . 

John s mother had taught him 
to read, and at school he learned some useful things; still 
he was not fond of books, and learned most from people 
and what was going on about him. 

He left school when he was sixteen and married before he 

was seventeen. About six miles from his father’s house he 

put up a building which was dwelling, storehouse, and fort 

all in one. Here on the frontier he carried on a thriving 

122 



JOHN SEVIER 


123 


trade with settlers and Indians, and was so successful that 
by the time he was twenty-six he was looked upon as a 
rich man. 

He was attractive in appearance, being tall, slender, 
and erect, with frank blue eyes, fair skin, and brown hair. 
He was a man of commanding presence, and his athletic 
figure seemed well suited to the fringed hunting-suit which 
eveiy pioneer wore. 

His merry disposition and great charm o: manner easily 
won many friends; and these he kept by his natural kind¬ 
ness and courtesy. He was never happier than when en¬ 
tertaining generously those who came to his home. Yet 
these gentle and lovable qualities did not prevent him from 
being a brave and skilful warrior, who could carry terror 
to the hearts of his foes. 

It was while he was engaged in his trading business 
that Sevier heard of Robertson’s settlement in the west, 
and became interested in it as a possible home for himself 
and his family. In 1772 he decided to ride through the 
forests to the Watauga settlement and find out what kind 
of place it was. 

Alone over the mountains and through the woods he 
made the journey. At the journey’s end, when he met 
Robertson, they became friends at once, for in spirit and 
aims they were much alike. Both were brave and fear¬ 
less, and both were seeking better homes for their families. 

Sevier decided to join the settlement on the Watauga, 


124 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


and went back to bring his wife and two children. Return¬ 
ing with them, he entered heartily into the common life of 
the frontier, with its many hardships and pleasures, and 
soon became a prominent man in the little colony. 

For a time after their arrival the settlement was not 
much troubled by the Indians. The Cherokees had given 
their consent to have the land taken up, and all went well 
for a period. 

But, as we have already seen in the case of Boone, the 
breaking out of the Revolution, and the action of the Brit¬ 
ish in arming the Indians with guns and rewarding them 
for bringing in captives, disturbed this peace and stirred 
up the tribes against the backwoodsmen. 

The Cherokees then broke their agreement with the 
settlers and in large numbers made bold and murderous 
attacks upon the many back-country settlements in south¬ 
western Virginia, the eastern Carolinas, northwestern 
Georgia, and what is now eastern Tennessee. 

As Watauga was the nearest settlement to the Chero¬ 
kee towns and villages, it was likely to suffer most from 
the attack. Robertson commanded the fort, with Sevier 
as his lieutenant. Only forty or fifty men were in the fort 
when it was attacked, although it was crowded with women 
and children. But these few men were resolute, well armed, 
and on their guard. 

It was in the gray light of the early morning that the 
Indians stole up for the attack. But a friendly squaw had 


JOHN SEVIER 


125 


given warning of danger, and the settlers were ready. The 
loopholes opened upon the Indians and they were at once 
beaten back with loss. This was the beginning of a long, 
dreary siege. As the stockade was too strong to be taken 
by an assault, the Indians tried to starve the colonists out. 
For about three weeks they lurked about so that the people 
within the fort dared not go outside for food., and had to 
live mostly on parched corn. 

It was a weary time. As you may imagine, all be¬ 
came very tired of that diet and very impatient at being 
kept shut up within the palisades for so long, and from 
time to time some one would venture out, heedless of warn¬ 
ing and of danger. In running this risk, three or four men 
were shot by the Indians, and one boy was carried off to 
an Indian village and burned at the stake. A woman also 
was captured. 

You will be interested in the thrilling experience of an¬ 
other woman. Her name was Kate Sherrill. She was tall 
and beautiful, graceful and gentle in manner, and, as we 
shall see, not lacking courage. 

One day, taking a pitcher to get water from the river, 
she had ventured some distance from the fort, when Indians 
dashed out of the forest and sprang toward her. Seeing her 
danger, she darted swiftly back, with her bloodthirsty foes 
close at her heels. 

It was a race for life, and she knew it. There was not 
time to reach the gate; so she ran the shortest way to the 


126 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


fort, caught hold of the top of the pickets, and, by an al¬ 
most superhuman effort sprung over to the other side. She 
did not fall to the ground as she expected, but into the 
arms of John Sevier, for he was standing at a loophole close 
by, and caught her. He had witnessed her danger and 
helped her to escape by shooting the Indian closest in the 
chase. A romance is connected with this, for we are told 
that John Sevier, who was then a young widower of thirty- 
one, married Kate Sherrill during the siege. 

Although the Indian braves were eager for the scalps 
of the Watauga settlers, they failed to capture the fort and 
finally went away, just as they did from the neighboring 
settlements. For a while, but only for a while, the pioneers 
were left free from Indian ravages. 

SEVIER A HERO AMONG THE TENNESSEE SETTLERS 

In spite of the danger, however, daring men kept com¬ 
ing to join the pioneers at the Watauga settlements. Se¬ 
vier continued to be a leading man in that backwoods 
region, and when, some years later, Robertson, as you re¬ 
member, left Watauga to go to the Cumberland valley, 
Sevier became the most prominent man in the colony. 

He was so prosperous that he could surround himself 
with much comfort. He built a rambling, one-story house 
on the Nolichucky Creek, a branch of the French Broad 
River. It was the largest in the settlement and was noted 
for the lavish entertainments given there, for Sevier was 


JOHN SEVIER 


127 


the same generous host as of old. His house consisted of 
two groups of rooms connected by a covered porch. Sevier 
with his family lived in one of the groups, and housed his 



A Barbecue of 1780. 


guests in the other. There were large verandas and huge 
fireplaces, in which, during cold weather, cheerful wood- 
fires blazed. 

Here to all, rich and poor alike, and especially to the 
men who had followed him in the many battles against the 
Indians, Sevier gave a hearty welcome. Rarely was his 
hospitable home without guests, and the table was heaped 
with such plain and wholesome food as woods and fields 
afforded. 

It was Sevier’s delight at weddings or special merry¬ 
makings to feast all the backwoods people of the neighbor¬ 
hood at a barbecue, where an ox was roasted whole over the 

















128 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


fire, and where, in fair weather, board tables were set under 
the trees. These were loaded with wild fowl, bear’s meat, 
venison, beef, johnny-cakes, ash-cakes, hominy, and apple¬ 
jack. Should you not like to have been one of the guests? 

During one of these merrymaking feasts (1780) news 
was brought that Major Ferguson, one of the ablest officers 
in Cornwallis’s army, was threatening to make an attack 
on the back-country settlements. At once Sevier, along 
with Isaac Shelby and others, set out to raise an army 
of frontiersmen to march against Ferguson. Soon a thou¬ 
sand men were riding through the forests to find the British 
force, of which every man except the commander was an 
American Tory. 

They came upon it in a strong position on King’s Moun¬ 
tain. Without delay the Americans made a furious attack. 
They fought with great heroism, charging up the steep 
mountainside with reckless bravery. 

They were divided into three bodies, one on the right 
of the British, one on the left, and another in front. Sevier 
commanded the division on the left. At just the right mo¬ 
ment he led his men in a resistless rush up the mountain¬ 
side and made victory certain for the Americans. The 
British raised the white flag of surrender. All of Fergu¬ 
son’s soldiers who had not been killed or wounded were 
made prisoners. 

By this victory the backwoods hunters greatly weakened 
f he British cause in the south and made easier General 


JOHN SEVIER 


129 


Greene’s victory over Cornwallis, of which we have already 
learned. Thus they took their part in winning the nation’s 
liberty. 

On returning from King’s Mountain to their homes, 
these pioneer warriors had to meet the Cherokees again 



Battle of King’s Mountain. 


in stubborn warfare. In his usual way Sevier struck a 

swift, crushing blow by marching to the mountain homes 

of his savage foes, where he burned a thousand of their 

cabins and destroyed fifty thousand bushels of their corn. 

In spite of this defeat, however, the Indians kept on 

fighting. So Sevier determined to strike another blow. 

At the head of one hundred and fifty picked horsemen, he 
10 




130 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


rode for one hundred and fifty miles through the mountain 
wilds and completely surprised the Indians, who did not 
think it possible for an enemy to reach them. After taking 
the main town, burning two other towns and three villages, 
capturing two hundred horses, destroying a large quantity 
of provisions, and doing other damage, he withdrew and 
returned home in safety. He had made the Indians afraid, 
and they were quiet for a time. 

These glimpses into the life of John Sevier must help 
you to understand why he became a hero among all the 
people of the frontier. They admired him for his brilliant 
leadership; they were grateful for his protection; and they 
loved him as a friend. The}^ fondly called him u Noli- 
chucky Jack”; and when, later, the settlements became 
the State of Tennessee, again and again they elected him 
governor, and sent him to Congress. 

Without doubt few men of his day were his equal as a 
fighter against the Indians. It is said that in all his war¬ 
fare with them he won thirty-five victories and never lost 
a battle. As we have seen, he moved with great swiftness 
in attacking his foes. Through his able scouts he learned 
the strength and weakness of his enemies and, before they 
realized what was going on, with a wild shout he and his 
bold followers swept down upon them like a hurricane, 
striking terror to the hearts of even the bravest. 

Sevier was active in public interests even to the last 
years of his long life. When eighty years old, he was at 


JOHN SEVIER 


131 


the head of a body of men who were marking the border 
line between Georgia and the lands of the Indians. The 
labor proved too great for his bodily strength, and the aged 
man died (1815), in his tent, with only a few soldiers and 
Indians around him. 

He was buried where he died, and a simple slab, with 
the two words, “John Sevier/’ inscribed upon it, indicates 
the spot where his body rests. 

In the homes of eastern Tennessee stories of his brave 
deeds are still told to eager, listening children, for his mem¬ 
ory is held dear in the hearts of old and young alike. Ten¬ 
nessee owes much to this brave, loyal, and high-minded 
man, who played a large part in shaping her destiny. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Why did Sevier go with his family to the Watauga settlement? 

2. Imagine yourself in the Watauga Fort when the Cherokees were 

trying to capture it, and give an account of what happened. 

3. Describe Sevier’s hospitable home, and tell something about the 

kind of feast he prepared for a wedding there. 

4. What kind of Indian fighter was Sevier? 

5. Tell all you can about his personal appearance. What do you 

admire about him? 


CHAPTER X 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 

Among the foremost of those who promoted the west¬ 
ward growth of our country stands George Rogers Clark. 
He was born near Monticello, Virginia, November 19, 1752. 
He came of a good family and he received fairly good 

training in school. But he learned 
much more from life than from 
books. 

When twenty years old he was 
already a woodsman and surveyor 
on the Upper Ohio, and did some¬ 
thing also at farming. About two 
years later, with measuring rod 
and axe, he moved on to Ken¬ 
tucky, where he continued his 

George Rogers Clark. 

work as a surveyor. 

A deadly struggle was going on here, you remember, 
with the Indians, who had been roused by the British 
against the backwoodsmen, and in this struggle Clark be¬ 
came a leader. 

Why it was that in hardly more than a year’s time this 

young man of twenty-four rose to a position of leadership 

among the settlers, and was chosen one of their lawmakers, 

132 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


133 


we shall understand when we come to see more of his ster¬ 
ling qualities. 

Nature had given him a pleasing face which men trusted. 
His forehead was high and broad under a shock of sandy 
hair, and honest blue eyes peered out from under heavy, 
shaggy eyebrows. His strong body could endure almost any 
hardship, and his splendid health was matched by his ad¬ 
venturous spirit. His fearless courage was equal to any 
danger, and his resolute purpose would not give way in 
the face of almost insurmountable difficulties. 

His great task would have been impossible except as 
he possessed these qualities, and we know that one does 
not come by them suddenly. They grow by bravely con¬ 
quering the fears of every-day life and not giving in to 
difficulties. It was in this way that the fearless hunters of 
Kentucky quickly recognized in him a master spirit. 

Clark, as you may imagine, was not content to remain 
in Kentucky merely as a skilful hunter and bold leader of 
war parties sent out to punish Indian bands. His keen 
mind had worked out a brilliant plan, which he was eager 
to carry through. It was nothing less than to conquer for 
his country the vast stretch of land lying north of the 
Ohio and east of the Mississippi, now included in the 
present Great Lake States. 

In this vast region of forest and prairie the only settle¬ 
ments were the scattered French hamlets, begun in the 
early days of exploration, when the French occupied the 


134 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


land and traded with the Indians for fur. These hamlets 
had passed into the hands of the English after the Last 
French War and were made the centres of English power, 
from which, as we have seen, the English commanders 
aroused the Indians against the backwoodsmen remote 
from their home settlements. 

These few villages or trading-posts, which were defended 
by forts, were scattered here and there at convenient places 
along the river courses, the three strongest forts being at 
Vincennes, on the Wabash, at Kaskaskia, and at Detroit. 

Over all the rest of the wild territory roamed hostile 
Indian tribes, hunting and fighting against one another as 
well as against the frontiersmen. 

Clark saw that if this region should be conquered the 
spreading prairies could be opened up for settlement. 

As the first step in carrying out his plan, he needed to 
secure aid from Patrick Henry, the governor of Virginia. 
Early in October, 1777, he started out on horseback from 
Harrodsburg, one of the Kentucky settlements, to ride 
through the forests and over the mountains to Williams¬ 
burg, then the capital of the State. So urgent was his 
haste that he stopped on the way but a single day at his 
father’s house, the home of his childhood, and then pressed 
on to Williamsburg. It took a whole month to make this 
journey of six hundred and twenty miles. 

Patrick Henry at once fell in with Clark’s plan. He 
arranged that the government should furnish six thousand 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


135 


dollars. But as it was needful that the utmost secrecy 
should be preserved, nothing was said about the matter 
to the Virginia Assembly. Clark was to raise his own 
company among the frontiersmen. The whole burden of 
making the necessary preparations rested upon him. 

CLARK STARTS ON HIS LONG JOURNEY 

With good heart he shouldered it, and in May, 1778, 
was ready with one hundred and fifty-three men to start 
from the Redstone Settlements, on the Monongahela River. 
He stopped at both Pittsburg and Wheeling for needed 
supplies. Then his flatboats, manned by tall backwoods¬ 
men in their picturesque dress, rowed or floated cautiously 
down the Ohio River. 

They did not know on how great a journey they had 
entered, for even to his followers Clark could not tell his 
plan. 

Toward the last of the month, on reaching the falls of 
the Ohio, near the present site of Louisville, they landed 
on an island, where Clark built a fort and drilled his men. 
Some of the families that had come with him, and were 
on their way to Kentucky, remained there until autumn, 
planting some corn and naming the island Corn Island. 

When about to leave, Clark said to the men: “We are 
going to the Mississippi.” Some were faint-hearted and 
wished to turn back. “You may go,” said Clark, for he 
wanted no discontented men among his number. From 


136 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


those remaining he carefully picked out the ones who 
seemed robust enough to endure the extreme hardships 
which he knew awaited them. 

As the success of the enterprise depended upon sur¬ 
prising the enemy, it was extremely important that he 
press forward as secretly and as speedily as possible. Ac¬ 



cordingly, the men rowed hard, night and day, until they 
came to an island off the mouth of the Tennessee River. 
Here it was their good fortune to meet with a small party of 
hunters who had been at the French settlements not long 
before. These men cheerfully joined Clark’s part}', agree¬ 
ing to act as guides to Kaskaskia. 

“If you go by the water-route of the Mississippi,” said 
these hunters, “the French commander at Kaskaskia will 
get news of your coming, through boatmen and hunters 







GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


137 



along the river ; and will be ready to defend the fort 
against you. The fort is strong and the garrison well 
trained, and if the 
commander knows 
of your approach 
he will put up a 
good fight.” 

So it was de¬ 
cided to go by 
land. At one time 
the guide lost his 
way, and Clark 
was angry, for he 
feared treachery. 

But after two 
hours they found 
the right course 
again. 

On the evening 
of July 4 the Kas- 

Clark on the Way to Kaskaskia. 

kaskia was reached. 

The fort was only three miles away, but it was across the 
stream. Remaining in the woods until dusk, they rested; 
then, as night fell, they pushed on to a little farmhouse 
only a mile from the fort. Here Clark obtained boats and 
silently, in the darkness, conveyed his men across the 
stream. 





Clark’s Surprise at Kaskaskia. 

A postern gate on the side facing the river had been 
pointed out by a captive, and Clark stationed his men 
so as to guard it. Then he went inside along to the 
entrance of the large hall where public gatherings were 
held. 

It was brilliantly lighted, and floating through the win¬ 
dows came the music of violins. The officers of the fort 
were giving a dance, and young creole men and maidens 


138 LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


After two hours all was ready for the attack. Clark 
divided the men into two bodies: one to surround the town 
and prevent the escape of the fugitives, and the other, led 
by himself, to advance to the walls of the fort. 












GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


139 


were spending a merry evening. Even the sentinels had 
left their posts in order to enjoy the festal occasion. 

Alone, Clark passed through the doorway and stood 
with folded arms, in grim silence, coolly watching the 
mirthful dancers. Lying upon the floor just inside the door 
was an Indian brave. As he raised his eyes to the face 
of the strange backwoodsman standing out clearly in the 
light of the torches, he sprang to his feet with a piercing 
war-whoop. The music broke off suddenly; a hush fell. 
Then the women screamed, and there was a wild rush for 
the door. 

Without stirring from the place where he stood, Clark 
quietly said: “Go on with your dance; but remember that 
you now dance under Virginia, and not under Great Britain/’ 
Scarcely had he uttered these words when his men, seeing 
the confusion, rushed into the forts and seized the officers, 
among whom was the French commander. 

Then Clark sent runners throughout the town to order 
the people to remain within their houses. The simple- 
hearted Frenchmen were in a panic of fear. 

The next morning some of their chief men,'appearing be¬ 
fore Clark, begged for their lives. “We will gladly become 
slaves,” they cried, “if by so doing we may save our fam¬ 
ilies.” “We do not wish to enslave you,” Clark answered, 
“and if you will solemnly promise to become loyal American 
citizens you shall be welcome to all the privileges of Ameri- 

n 


cans. 


140 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


On hearing these words the French people were so car¬ 
ried away with joy that they danced and sang and scattered 
flowers along the street. By his kind way of dealing with 
them, Clark made the people of the town his friends in¬ 
stead of his enemies. 

A little later the people of Vincennes also solemnly 
promised to be loyal citizen s, and, taking down the English 
flag, they raised the American stars and stripes over their 
fort. 


LIFE IN THE OLD FRENCH VILLAGES 

You will enjoy a glimpse of the life in these old French 
villages, for it is quite different from that of the settlements 
we have visited. There are manv little hamlets, like 
Kaskaskia and Vincennes, on the western frontier. They 
have been in existence for years, but have not increased 
much in strength or size. 

The French people living there have never mingled with 
the American backwoodsmen. They have kept by them¬ 
selves, remaining for the most part half-homesick emigrants. 
Many of them are engaged in the fur trade; some are 
adventure-loving wood rovers and hunters, but the most 
of them are farmers on a small scale. 

Their little villages, composed of hovels or small log 

cottages, are guarded by rough earthworks. A few 

* 

roomy buildings serve as storehouses and strongholds in 
times of danger. There are also little wine-shops, as in 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


141 


the old country, which the French love, and in which they 
are always entertained by the music of violins. 

There is much gay color on the streets of these hamlets, 
for the Frenchmen are dressed in bright-colored suits, made 
of Indian blankets. And lounging about in cheap paint or 
soiled finery are lazy Indians, begging at times and at times 
idly watching the boats rowing up and down the river. 

We see, too, now and then, the familiar red-and-buff 
uniforms of the 'British army officers, which are regarded 
with awe whenever they appear. For you must remem¬ 
ber that after 1763 all the French hamlets were in British 
hands, and the English officers were the great men of this 
country north of the Ohio. 

clark’s hard task 

Although the life was gayer and easier in these French 
villages than in the frontier settlements, and although the 
taking of Kaskaskia and Vincennes had been easy, Clark 
still had a hard task before him. His small force was made 
up of men who were in the habit of doing as they pleased, 
and over them he had no control except through their 
personal liking for him. 

Furthermore, he was so many hundred miles from Vir¬ 
ginia that he could not hope to get any advice or help from 
the government for months, or perhaps for an entire year. 
He must rely entirely upon himself. And we shall see that 
he was equal to the situation. 


142 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



Outside the villages, roaming over the great region he 
was hoping to conquer, were thousands of Indians. They 
were hostile, bloodthirsty, and ready to slaughter without 
pity. When they heard what Clark and his backwoods¬ 
men had done, they crowded to Kaskaskia to see for them¬ 
selves. Lurking back of their gloomy faces were wicked 
thoughts. Clark was in great danger from these Indians. 

But he proved himself their master also. Though care¬ 
fully on his guard in any dealings he might have with them, 

he always appeared to 
them quite unafraid 
and confident that he 
could take care of 
himself. His boldness 
and firmness, even 
when surrounded by red warriors greatly outnumbering 
his own small force, had a profound effect upon them. 

Once he told them that he could appeal to the Thirteen 
Council-Fires—meaning, of course, the thirteen States— 
and that they could send him men enough to darken the 
land. The Indians began to fear him and to look upon 
him as a mighty warrior, and when he held up to them the 
red wampum belt of war and the white of peace for them 
to choose which they would have, they chose peace and 
left the settlement. 

But there was still another very serious difficulty which 
Clark had to face. It caused even greater anxiety than the 


Wampum Peace Belt. 































































































































































GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


143 


danger from the Indians, for it was within his own com¬ 
pany. You remember that when his men started out they 
did not know that they were to go so far away from home. 
Now, when their time of service was up, they threatened to 
leave him and return to their homes. By means of pres¬ 
ents and promises Clark persuaded about a hundred to stay 
eight months longer. The others left for home. 

A weaker man might have been quite helpless if left 
with so small a force. Not so Clark. He had wonderful 
power over people, and soon the creoles of the French vil¬ 
lages had become so loyal that their young men took the 
places of the woodsmen who went away. Clark thoroughly 
drilled them all until they were finely trained for any ser¬ 
vice he might ask. 

It was well he did so. For Colonel Hamilton, the Brit¬ 
ish commander at Detroit, who had charge of the British 
forces throughout the vast region which Clark was trying to 
conquer, was a man of great energy. Soon after getting 
news of what Clark had done at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, 
he began preparing for an expedition against the latter place. 

Early in October (1779) he set out from Detroit with 
one hundred and seventy-seven soldiers and sixty Indians. 
By the time he had reached Vincennes so many other In¬ 
dians had joined him that his entire force numbered about 
five hundred. The fort at Vincennes, as you remember, 
contained only a handful of men, and it easily fell into 
Hamilton's hands (December 17, 1779). 


144 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


If Hamilton had at once marched on to Kaskaskia, he 
might have captured Clark or driven him out of the north¬ 
west. But that same tendency to U put off/’ which had 
already cost the British many a victory, here again saved 
the day for the Americans. Because the weather was so 
cold, the route so long, and the other difficulties in his way 
so great, Hamilton resolved to wait until spring before 
going farther. 

And not expecting to need his soldiers before spring, 
he sent back to Detroit the greater part of his force. He 
kept with him about eighty of the white soldiers and about 
the same number of Indian allies. 

About six weeks later Clark learned from an Indian 
trader how small the garrison was at Vincennes. You may 
be sure that he did not wait for seasons to change. Quick 
to realize that this was his chance, he gathered a force of 
one hundred and seventy men—nearly half of them cre¬ 
oles—and in seven days he was on his way to Ylncennes. 

CLARK CAPTURES VINCENNES 

The route, two hundred and forty miles in length, led 
eastward across what is now Illinois. As often happens at 
this season, the weather had grown so mild that the ice and 
snow had thawed, causing the rivers to overflow, and the 
meadows and lowlands which lay along a large part of the 
route were under water from three to five feet deep. 

When we remember that there were no houses for shel- 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


145 


ter, no roads, and no bridges across the swollen streams, we 
can imagine something of the hardships of this midwinter 
journey. Only very strong men could endure such ex¬ 
posure. 

Knowing that cheerfulness would help greatly in keep¬ 
ing his men well and willing, Clark encouraged feasting and 
merrymaking as all were gathered at night around the 
blazing logs. There the game killed during the day was 
cooked and eaten, and while some sang and danced, accord¬ 
ing to creole custom, others sat before the huge fires and 
told exciting stories about hunting and Indian warfare. 
Then, warmed and fed, all lay down by the fire for the 
night’s rest. 

As long as this lasted the journey was by no means 
hard; but by the end of a week conditions had changed, 
for they had reached the drowned lands of the Wabash. 

Coming first to the two branches of the Little Wabash, 
they found the floods so high that the land between the two 
streams was entirely under water, and they were facing a 
mighty river five miles wide and at no point less than 
three feet deep, while, of course, in the river beds it was 
much deeper. 

But Clark was resourceful. He at once had his men 
build a pirogue, or dugout canoe. In this he rowed across 
the first branch of the river, and on the edge of the water- 
covered plain put up a scaffold. Then the men and the 
baggage were ferried across in the pirogue, and the baggage 


146 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


was placed on the scaffold. Last of all, the pack-horses 
swam the channel, and standing by the scaffold in water 
above their knees, received again their load of baggage. 



Clark’s Advance on Vincennes. 


All then proceeded to the second channel, which was 
crossed in the same way. It took three days to build the 
pirogue and cross the two branches of the river. 

During this time hunger was added to the other suf¬ 
ferings of the men, for the flood had driven all the wild 
animals away, so that there was no longer any game to 
shoot. Advance was slow and extremely tiresome, for the 
men had to march from morning till night up to their 
waists in mud and water. They were nearing the Great 
Wabash River. 





GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


147 


On February 20 the men were quite exhausted. 
There had been nothing to eat for nearly two days. Many 
of the creoles were so downcast that they began to talk of 
going home. Clark, putting on a brave face, laughed and 
said: “Go out and kill a deerV 

But meanwhile his men, acting under orders, had built 
three canoes, and on the morning of the 22d the entire 
force was ferried across the Wabash. 

Once on the side of the river where Vincennes stood, 
they began to feel more cheerful, for by night they ex¬ 
pected to be at the fort. 

It was well that they did not know what awaited them, 
for they had yet a bitter experience to pass through. Al¬ 
most all the way was under water, and as they went slowly 
on they often stepped into hollows where the water came 
up to their chins. But, guided by their bold leader, they 
pressed forward until they reached a hillock, where they 
spent the night. 

During the long hours of this trying day Clark had 
kept up the spirits of his men in every way he could. In 
telling about it later, he said: “I received much help from 
a little antic drummer, a boy with such a fun-loving spirit 
that he made the men laugh, in spite of their weariness, at 
his pranks and jokes.” 

On starting out again the next morning some were so 
weak and famished that they had to be taken in the canoes. 
Those who were strong enough tc wade came to water too 


148 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


deep to walk through; and, painfully struggling; began to 
huddle together as if all hope had fled. 

Then Clark had to do something to rouse them. Sud¬ 
denly he blackened his face with gunpowder and ; sounding 
the war-whoop like an Indian brave ; fearlessly sprang for¬ 
ward. His men plunged in after him without a word. 

By dusk they were still six miles from Vincennes. Their 
clothing was drenched; their muscles ached with weariness, 
and they were well-nigh exhausted from lack of food. To 
make matters worse, the weather that day was bitterly 
cold. Yet the worst experience of the whole trying march 
was to come. 

For before them stretched a shallow lake, four miles in 
extent. With something like a score of the strongest men 
just behind him, Clark plunged into the ice-cold water, 
breast-deep. When they had gone about half-way across 
some of them were so cold and weak that they could not 
take another step.. So the canoes were kept busy rescuing 
them and getting them to land. 

Those who, though weak, were still able to keep their 
feet, clung to the strong and plodded forward. When they 
had finally reached the woods bordering the farther side 
of the lake, they had not strength enough to pull themselves 
out, but clung desperately to the bushes and logs on the 
shore until the canoes could pick them up. 

On reaching land some were so exhausted that they fell 
upon the ground with their faces half buried in the water. 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


149 


But the stronger ones built fires and fed them broth made 
from some venison they had taken from squaws in an In¬ 
dian canoe which happened along. With food and warmth 
courage returned. 

In the afternoon they set out again. After crossing a 
narrow lake in the canoes and marching a short distance, 
they reached a tree-covered spot from which they could see 
the town and the fort. There they made a stop and, hidden 
by the trees, made ready for the attack. 

There was some fighting that night, and it was con¬ 
tinued the next day. Then Clark demanded the surrender 
of the fort. Hamilton at first refused, but, as he had only 
a small number of men, he had to give up both fort and gar¬ 
rison. He himself was sent a prisoner to Virginia. 

Clark’s capture of Vincennes was the finishing stroke of 
his conquest. He had succeeded in. one of the boldest en¬ 
terprises ever undertaken in America. All the vast region 
he had set out to conquer remained under American control 
until the end of the Revolution, when, by treaty, it formally 
became a part of our country. 

In carrying out his plans Clark had not only risked his 
health and life, but he had used up all his property. In 
spite of the great service he had done his country, his last 
years were spent in poverty. For a while he lived alone 
in a rude dwelling on Corn Island, but later his sister took 
him to her home near Louisville. Here, in 1818, came 
to an end the life of this heroic soldier and loyal American 


150 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Some Things to Think About 

1. What was Clark’s brilliant plan? 

2. Imagine yourself with him on the evening when he captured tUe 

fort at Kaskaskia, and tell as fully as you can what happened. 
Tell something of his hard task in the days that followed. 

3. Can you explain how it was that he had such a powerful influence 

over men ? 

4. In imagination go with Clark on his wonderful march from Kas¬ 

kaskia to Vincennes and give an account of your trials and 
sufferings. 

5. How do you account for Clark’s remarkable success? What do 

you admire about him? 

6. Are you making frequent use of the map ? 


CHAPTER XI 
THE NEW REPUBLIC 


At the end of the Revolution Washington, as we have 
already noted, returned to his beautiful home, Mount 
Vernon, overlooking the Potomac. Here he again took 
up the many-sided duties which 
his large plantation made neces¬ 
sary for him. His busy day be¬ 
gan when he arose at four o’clock 
in the morning and ended when he 
went to bed at nine o’clock in the 
evening. But his life was not so 
quiet as we might think. For he 
had so many visitors that at the 
end of two years he wrote in his 
diary one day: “ Dined with only 
Mrs. Washington, which I believe is the first instance 01 
it since my retirement from public life.” 

When the States, after securing their independence^ 
united under the Constitution to form the nation called the 
United States of America, they needed a President. It 
was but natural that again all eyes should turn to George 

Washington, and he was elected without opposition. 

151 



r/ 

George Washington. 


152 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



In his modesty he felt himself unfit to lead the Ameri¬ 
can people in times of peace. In fact, this new service was 
for him perhaps the hardest that he had ever tried to ren¬ 
der his countrv. Yet, as he believed with all his heart in 


Washington’s Home, Mount Vernon. 

the new government, he decided to accept the office. He 
was willing to give up his own comfort for the sake of trying 
to bring new life and prosperity to his countrymen. 

On April 16, 1789, two days after being informed of his 
election, he said good-by to Mount Vernon and started out 
as a plain citizen in a private carriage on a seven days’ 
journey to New York, which was then the capital city of 
the United States. 

He wished to travel as quietly as possible, but the 








THE NEW REPUBLIC 


153 


people were so eager to show their love for him and their 
trust in him that they thronged to meet and welcome him 
at every stage of the journey. When he passed through 



Tribute Rendered to Washington at Trenton. 

Philadelphia, under an escort of city troops, he rode a 
prancing white steed, and a civic crown of laurel rested 
upon his head. 

But the most touching tribute of all he received at 
Trenton. On the bridge spanning the little creek which 
he had crossed more than once when thirteen years before 
he was battling for his country’s freedom was a floral 
arch. Under this a party of matrons and young girls 
























































154 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


carrying baskets of flowers took their stand. As Wash¬ 
ington passed beneath the arch the girls sang a song of 
welcome and strewed flowers in the road before him. On 
the arch was the motto: “The Hero Who Defended the 
Mothers Will Protect the Daughters.” 

When he arrived on the New Jersey side of the North 
River he was met by a committee of both houses of Con¬ 
gress. They escorted him to a handsomely equipped 
barge, manned by thirteen pilots, all dressed in white uni¬ 
forms. Landing on the New York side, he rode through 
the streets amid throngs of shouting people, with salutes 
thundering from war-ships and from cannon on the Bat¬ 
tery, and bells joyfully ringing from church-steeples, to give 
him a welcome. 

The inauguration took place on April 30. A little 
after noon Washington left his house, and under a large 
military escort made his way to Federal Hall, which was 
the Senate Chamber. 

From there he was escorted out to the balcony over¬ 
looking a large space in the streets below, which were 
thronged with people. He took his seat by the side of a 
crimson-covered table, on which lay a Bible. 

As Washington stood up face to face with the chan¬ 
cellor of New York State, who was to give the oath, a deep 
hush fell on the multitude below. “Do you solemnly 
swear,” asked Chancellor Livingston, “that you will faith¬ 
fully execute the office of President of the United States, 


THE NEW REPUBLIC 


155 


and will, to the best of your ability, preserve, protect, and 
defend the Constitution of the United States?” 

“I do solemnly swear,” said Washington, “that I will 
faithfully execute the office of President of the United 



Washington Taking the Oath of Office as First President, at Federal Hall, 

New York City. 


States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, 
and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

Then with deep earnestness he bent and kissed the 
Bible held before him, with the whispered prayer: “So 
help me God!” 

“Long live George Washington, President of the United 
States!” exclaimed Livingston, and the excited throng took 
up the cry, shouting with wild enthusiasm. Thus was in¬ 
augurated our first President. 

Returning to the Senate Chamber, Washington there 
























































































































































156 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


delivered a short address. He was very much agitated, for 
he had a deep sense of the responsibility which had been 
put upon him. After he had given his address he attended 
service in St. Paul’s Church, and then went to his new home 
in New York City. 

His life as President was one of dignity and elegance. 
It was his custom to pay no calls and accept no invitations, 

but between three and four o’clock on 
every Tuesday afternoon he held a 
public reception. On such occasions 
he appeared in court dress, with 
powdered hair, yellow gloves in his 
hands, a long sword in a scabbard of 
white polished leather at his side, and 
a cocked hat under his arm. Stand¬ 
ing before the fireplace, with his right 
hand behind him, he bowed formally 
as each guest was presented to him. 

The visitors formed a circle about the room. At a 
quarter past three the door was closed, and Washington 
went around the circle, speaking to each person. Then he 
returned to his first position by the fireplace, where each 
visitor approached him, bowed, and retired. 

One of his first public duties was the choosing of strong 
men to form his cabinet and help him in his new tasks as 
President. Thomas Jefferson was made Secretary of State; 
Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; Henry 



Washington’s Inaugural 
Chair. 

















THE NEW REPUBLIC 


157 


Knox, Secretary of War; and Edmund Randolph, Attorney- 
General. John Jay was appointed Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court. 

The new government had to settle more than one im¬ 
portant question. One of these related to the method of 
paying the State debts which had been the outcome of the 
Revolutionary War. The northern States were in favor 
of having the National Government take care of these debts. 
Washington himself wished in this way to unite the inter¬ 
ests of all the States as well as have them feel that they had 
a share in the new government. The southern States, how¬ 
ever, were bitterly opposed to this plan, but they, in their 
turn, were eager to have the national capital located on the 
Potomac River. 

Alexander Hamilton, by a clever arrangement, per¬ 
suaded the opposing interests to adopt a compromise, or 
an agreement by which each side got a part of what it 
wished. The northern States were to vote for a southern 
capital if the southern States would vote that the National 
Government should look after the State debts. 

This plan was carried out; and so it was decided that 
the capital of the United States should be located in the 
District of Columbia, on the Potomac River, and should be 
called Washington, after George Washington. 

In 1789, the seat of government was in New York; from 
1790 to 1800, it was in Philadelphia; and in 1800 it was 
transferred to Washington, where it has ever since remained. 


158 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


THE COTTON-GIN AND SLAVERY 


One of the most noteworthy events which occurred 
during Washington’s administration was the invention of 
the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney. Whitney was born in 
Massachusetts. While yet a boy he was employed in mak¬ 
ing nails by hand ; for there was 
no machine for making them in 
those days. Later, when he en¬ 
tered Yale College ; his skilful use 
of tools helped him to pay his 
college expenses. 

After being graduated from 
Yale he went south; where he 
became a tutor in the family of 
General Greene’s widow, then liv¬ 
ing on the Savannah River, in the home which, you re¬ 
member, Georgia gave her husband. While he was in Mrs. 
Greene’s home he invented for her an embroidery-frame 
which she greatly valued. 

One day, while she was entertaining some planters, they 
began tc talk about the raising of cotton. One of her guests 
said that it did not pay well because so much time was 
needed to separate the seeds from the fibre. He added 
that if a way could be found to do this more quickly the 
profits would be far greater. 

“Gentlemen,” said Mrs. Greene, “tell this to my young 



THE NEW REPUBLIC 


159 


friend, Mr. Whitney. Verily, I believe he can make any¬ 
thing.” As a result of this conversation, in two or three; 
months Eli Whitney had invented the cotton-gin (1793), 
although in so doing he had to make all his own tools. 

The cotton-gin brought about great changes. Before 
its invention it took a slave a whole day to separate the 
seed from five or six 
pounds of cotton 
fibre. But by the use 
of the cotton-gin he 
could separate the 
seed from a thou¬ 
sand pounds in a 
single day. 

This, of course, 

meant that cotton Whitney’s Cotton-Gin. 

could be sold for very much less than before, and hence 
there arose a much greater demand for it. It meant, also, 
that the labor of slaves was of more value than before, 
and hence there was a greater demand for slaves. 

As slavery now became such an important feature of 
southern life, let us pause for a glimpse of a southern plan¬ 
tation where slaves are at work. If we are to see such life 
in its pleasantest aspects, we may well go back to Virginia 
in the old days before the Civil War. There the slaves led 
a freer and easier life than they did farther south among the 
rice-fields of South Carolina or the cotton-fields of Georgia. 












160 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


If we could visit one of these old Virginia plantations 
as it used to be, where wheat and tobacco were grown, we 
should see first a family mansion, often situated on a hill¬ 
top amid a grove of oaks. The mansion is a two-story 
house, perhaps made of wood, and painted white. With 
its vine-clad porch in front, and its wide hallway inside, it 
has a very comfortable look. 

Not far away is a group of small log cabins. This clus¬ 
ter of simple dwellings, known as “the quarters,’ 7 is the 
home of the slaves, who do the work in the house and fields. 

On the large plantations of the far south, there were 
sometimes several slave settlements on one plantation, 
each being a little village, with the cabins set in rows on 
each side of a wide street. Each cabin housed two fam¬ 
ilies; belonging to each was a small garden. 

The log cabins contained large fireplaces, and it was not 
unusual for the master’s children to gather about them 
when the weather was cold enough for fires, to hear the 
negroes tell quaint tales and sing weird songs. The old 
colored “mammies” were very fond of “Massa’s chillun” 
and liked to pet them and tell them stories. 

Sometimes the cooking for the master’s family was done 
in the kitchen of the “big house,” but more often in a cabin 
outside, from which a negro waitress carried the food to the 
dining-room. The slaves had regular allowances of food, 
most of which they preferred to cook in their own cabins. 
Their common food was corn bread and ham or bacon. 


THE NEW REPUBLIC 


161 


Some of the slaves were employed as servants in the 
master’s house, but the greater part of them worked in the 
fields. They went out to work very early in the morning. It 
often happened that their breakfast and dinner were carried 



A Colonial Planter. 


to them in the fields, and during the short rest which they 
had while eating their meals they would often sing together. 

The slaves had their holidays, one of them being at the 
time of hog-killing, which was an annual festival. In some 
parts of the south, in November or December, corn-husking 
bees were held, just as the white people held them on the 
frontier. When the corn was harvested, it was piled up 

in mounds fifty or sixty feet high. Then the slaves from 

12 







1G2 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


neighboring plantations were invited to come and help 
husk the corn. One negro would leap up on the mound 
and lead the chorus, all joining lustily in the singing. 

, Other holidays were given the slaves on the Fourth of 
July and at Christmas time. One negro tells us about 



A Slave Settlement. 


the barbecue which his master gave to him and the other 
slaves. “Yes, honey, dat he did gib us Fourth of July—a 
plenty o’ holiday—a beef kilt, a mutton, hogs, salt, pepper, 
an’ eberyting. He hab a gre’t trench dug, and a whole 
load of wood put in it an’ burned down to coals. Den 
dey put wooden spits across, an’ dey had spoons an’ basted 
de meat. An’ we ’vite all de culled people aroun’, an’ dey 
come, an’ we had fine times.” 

The life of the slaves was sometimes hard and bitter, 











THE NEW REPUBLIC 


163 


especially when they were in charge of a cruel overseer on 
a large plantation. But it was not always so. For it is 
pleasant to think that when they had good masters, there 
were many things to cheer and brighten their lives. We 
know that household slaves often lived in the most friendly 
relations with their owners. 

We must pass over many of the events which took place 
while Washington was President, but you will very likely 
take them up in your later study. After serving with 
marked success for two terms, he again returned (1797) to 
private life at Mount Vernon. Here, on Dece'mber 14, 1799, 
he died at the age of sixty-seven, loved and honored by the 
American people. 

Let us always remember with grateful hearts the noble 
life of the great man who has rightly been called the “Father 
of his Country.” 


Some Things to Think About 

1. How did the people express their feeling for Washington when he 

was on his way to New York to be inaugurated as President? 

2. Describe one of his public receptions. 

3. Who were the men Washington chose to help him in his new task 

as President? 

4. What effects did the invention of the cotton-gin have upon slavery ? 

5. In imagination visit some old plantations and tell what you can 

about slave life there. 

6. Why has Washington been called the “Father of his Country”? 


CHAPTER XII 

INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE NEW REPUBLIC 


As with reverent thought we turn from the closing days 
of George Washington’s life, our interest is drawn to the 
career of another national hero, with whom we associate 
the most remarkable expansion in the area of our country. 

Already through the achieve- 
ments of early pioneers and set¬ 
tlers, such as Daniel Boone in 
Kentucky, John Sevier and James 
Robertson in Tennessee, and 
George Rogers Clark in the region 
of the Great Lakes, the country ly¬ 
ing between the Alleghany Moun¬ 
tains and the Mississippi River had 
come to be a part of the United 

Thomas Jefferson. 

States. 

But now in a very different and much easier way the 
territory lying beyond the Mississippi and stretching west¬ 
ward to the Rocky Mountains was added to the national 
domain. This we obtained, not by exploration or settle¬ 
ment, but by purchase; and the man who had most to do 
with our getting it was Thomas Jefferson. 





INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 165 

The stoiy of the purchase is most interesting, but hardly 
more so than the story of Thomas Jefferson himself. 

He was born in 1743 near Charlottesville, Virginia, on 
a plantation of nearly two thousand acres. As a boy he 



“Monticello,” the Home of Jefferson. 


lived an out-of-door life, hunting, fishing, swimming, or 
paddling his boat in the river near his home, and some¬ 
times riding his father’s horses. He was a skilful and 
daring rider, and remained to the end of his long life fond 
of a fine horse. 

He was a most promising lad. At five he entered 
school, and even at that early age began his lifelong habit 
of careful reading and studying. While still but a boy 










166 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


he was known among his playmates for his industry and 
the thorough way in which he did his work. 

At seventeen he entered William and Mary College at 
Williamsburg, Virginia. Here he worked hard, sometimes 
studying fifteen hours a day. But for his sound body and 
strong health he must have broken down under such a se¬ 
vere strain. 

Yet this hard-working student was no mere bookworm. 
He was cheerful and full of life, and was very much liked by 
his fellow students. Among other friends made during his 
college days was the fun-loving Patrick Henry, who with 
his jokes and stories kept eveiy one about him in good 
humor. In time their friendship became so intimate that 
when Patrick Henry came to Williamsburg as a member 
of the House of Burgesses, he shared Jefferson’s rooms. 
Both were fond of music, and spent many a pleasant hour 
playing their violins together. 

We have a description of Jefferson as he appeared at 
this time. He was over six feet tall, slender in body, but 
with large hands and feet. His freckled face was topped by 
a mass of sandy hair, from beneath which looked out keen, 
friendly gray eyes. He stood erect, straight as an arrow 
a fine picture of health and strong young manhood. 

Thus we may imagine him as he stood one day while a 
law student at Williamsburg, in the doorway of the court¬ 
house, earnestly listening to his friend Patrick Henry as 
he delivered his famous speech against the Stamp Act. 


INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


167 


The fiery words of the eloquent speaker made a deep im- 
pression upon young Jefferson’s quick, warm nature. 

Both young men were earnest patriots, but they served 
their country in different ways. To Patrick Henry it was 
given to speak with the silver tongue of the orator; while 
Jefferson, who was a poor speaker, wrote with such grace 
and strength that he has rightly been called “The Pen of 
the Revolution.” 

Before taking up his public life, it will be of interest 
to us to see how he helped his countrymen in other ways. 
Two valuable and lasting improvements have come down 
from him. The first of these was the system of decimal cur¬ 
rency, which replaced the clumsy system of pounds, shil¬ 
lings, and pence used in colonial days. When you are 
called upon to work out examples in English currency, be 
grateful to Thomas Jefferson that we have instead the 
much simpler system of dollars and cents. 

The second improvement—which was for the benefit of 
agriculture, in which Jefferson always felt a deep interest—- 
had, perhaps, even greater importance, for it was not merely 
a convenience but a means of increasing wealth. It was a 
new form of plough, which, sinking deeper into the soil, 
vastly increased its productive power, and has been of 
untold value to the people not only of our country but of 
the whole world. 

Jefferson showed his interest in the work of the farm in 
another way. While he was in France as American min- 



168 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


ister to the King he found that, although the French ate a 
great deal of rice, especially during Lent, very little of it 
came from the United States, because rice raised here was 



A Rice-Field in Louisiana. 


thought to be of an inferior quality. The best rice came 
from Italy. 

Wishing to help American rice-growers, Jefferson, there¬ 
fore, went to Italy to study the Italian method of growing 
it. He found that in both countries the hulling and clean¬ 
ing machine was the same. “Then,” thought he, “the 
seed of the Italian rice must be better.” 

So, doing up some small packages of the best seed rice 
he could find, he sent them to Charleston. The seeds were 




INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


169 


carefully distributed among the planters, who made good 
use of them, and from those seeds as a beginning some of 
the finest rice in the world is now produced in our own 
States. 

Jefferson’s greatest work as a statesman 

But valuable as these services were to his countrymen, 
Jefferson’s great work in the world was that of a states¬ 
man. He first came into prominence in the Second Conti¬ 
nental Congress, when, you recall, the brave men represent¬ 
ing the several colonies decided that the time had come for 
the American people to declare themselves free and inde¬ 
pendent of England. Here Jefferson’s ability as a writer 
did good service; for of the committee of five appointed 
to draw up the Declaration of Independence Jefferson was 
a member, and it fell to him to write the first draft of 
that great state paper. 

Congress spent a few days in going over this draft and 
making some slight changes in it. In the main, however, 
it stands as Jefferson wrote it. 

After filling many of the high offices in the country, in 
1801 Jefferson became the third President of the United 
States. In this lofty position history gives us another 
striking picture of the man. It shows that he was simple 
in his tastes, and that he liked best those plain ways of 
living which are most familiar to the common people. 

On the day of his inauguration he went on foot to the 


170 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Capitol, dressed in his every-day clothes and attended 
only by a few friends. It became his custom later, when 
going up to the Capitol on official business, to go on horse¬ 
back, tying his horse with his own hands to a near-by fence 
before entering the building. He declined to hold weekly 
receptions, as had been the custom when Washington and 
Adams were Presidents, but instead he opened his house to 
all on the Fourth of July, and on New Year’s Day. In 
these ways he was acting out his belief that the President 
should be simple in dress and manner. 

Many things which Jefferson did proved that he was 
an able statesman, but the one act which stands out above 
all others as the greatest and wisest of his administration, 
was the “Louisiana Purchase.” 

Let us see how this purchase came to be made. Before 
Jefferson became President many pioneers, we know, had 
already settled west of the Alleghany Mountains. Most 
of them lived along the Ohio and the streams flowing into 
it from the north and the south. In the upland valleys of 
the Kentucky and Tennessee Rivers settlers were especially 
numerous. 

These lands were so fertile that the people living there 
became very prosperous. As their harvests were abundant, 
they needed a market in which to sell what they could not 
use. 

We have seen how in the autumn it was their custom to 
load the furs on pack-horses, and driving the cattle before 


INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


171 



A Flatboat on the Ohio River. 


them along the forest trail, to make the long journey over 
the mountains to cities and towns along the Atlantic coast. 

But to send their bulky products by this route was too 
expensive. Water transportation cost much less. Such 
produce as corn-meal, flour, pork, and lumber had to go on 
rafts or flatboats 
down the Ohio 
and Mississippi 
Rivers to New 
Orleans. Here 
the cargo and the 
boat were sold, or 
the cargo sold 
and loaded on ocean vessels, which in time reached the 
eastern market by a cheaper though longer route than 
that by land. Thus the Mississippi River, being the only 
outlet for this heavy produce, was very necessary to the 
prosperity of the west. 

But Spain at this time owned New Orleans and all 
the land about the mouth of the Mississippi River; and 
as the river became more and more used for traffic Span¬ 
ish officers at New Orleans began to make trouble. They 
even went so far as to threaten to prevent the sending of 
produce to that port. 

This threat greatly troubled and angered the western 
farmers. They proposed wild plans to force an outlet for 
their trade. But before anything was done, news came 

























172 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


that Napoleon, who was then at the head of affairs in France, 
had compelled Spain to give up Louisiana to France. 

Then the westerners grew still more alarmed about their 
trade. It was bad enough to have a weak country like 
Spain in control of Louisiana. But it might be far worse 
to have France, the greatest military power in the world at 
that time, own it. All this was veiy plain to Jefferson, 
and he knew that Napoleon was planning to establish gar¬ 
risons and colonies in Louisiana. 

In view of the possible dangers, he sent James Monroe 
to France to aid our minister there in securing New Orleans 
and a definite stretch of territory in Louisiana lying on the 
east side of the Mississippi River. If he could get that 
territory, the Americans would then own the entire east 
bank of the river and could control their own trade. 

When Monroe reached France, he found that Napoleon 
not only was willing to sell what Jefferson wanted, but 
wished him to buy much more. For as Napoleon was about 
to engage in war with England, he had great need of 
money. Besides, he was afraid that the English might 
even invade and capture Louisiana, and in that case he 
would get nothing for it. He was satisfied, therefore, to 
sell the whole of the Louisiana territory for fifteen million 
dollars. 

This purchase was a big event in American history, 
for you must remember that what was then called Louisi¬ 
ana was a very large stretch of country. It included all 












































INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


173 


the region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky 
Mountains, from Canada down to what is now Texas. 
Look at your map and you will see that it was larger than 
all the rest of the territory which up to that time had been 
called the United States. 

NEW ORLEANS IN 1803 

The people of that day did not realize the importance 
of their purchase. For the most part the territory was a 
wild region, un¬ 
inhabited except 
for scattered In¬ 
dian tribes, and 
almost unex- 
The place 
most alive was 
New Orleans, 

which would have House in New Orleans Where Louis Philippe Stopped 

in 1798. 

interested you 

keenly had you been a pioneer boy or girl. New Orleans 
has been called a Franco-Spanish-American city, for it has 
belonged to all three nations in turn and been under 
French control twice. You remember that the French 
settled it. Let us imagine ourselves pioneers of 1803, and 
that we have just brought a cargo down the river. 

We find New Orleans to be one of the chief seaports 
of America. We see shipping of all sorts about the town 
















174 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


—barges and flatboats along the river bank, merchant ves¬ 
sels in the harbor, and farther down some war-ships. 

There are buildings still standing which are. unchanged 
parts of the earlier French town—for instance, the gov¬ 
ernment house, the barracks, the hospital, and the convent 
of the Ursulines. We notice that the walls and fortifica¬ 
tions, built 
partly by the 
French and 
partly by the 
Spaniards, are 
but a mere ring 
of grass-grown 
ruins about the 
city. 

But the city 
is very pictur¬ 
esque with its 
tropical vegetation, always green, and its quaint houses, 
many of them raised several feet above the ground on 
pillars. The more pretentious mansions are surrounded by 
broad verandas and fine gardens, and scattered here and 
there among the houses of the better class are those of the 
poor people. 

The streets are straight and fairly wide, but dirty and 
ill-kept. The sidewalks are of wood, and at night we 
need to take our steps carefully, for only a few dim lights 



A Public Building in New Orleans Built in 1794. 

















INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


175 


break the darkness. Beyond the walls of the city we see 
suburbs already springing up. 

Three-fourths of the inhabitants are creoles—that is, 
natives of French and Spanish descent, who speak in the 
French tongue. We do not understand them any more than 
if we were in a really foreign city. They seem a handsome, 
well-knit race. But they are idle and lacking in ambition, 
and for that reason are being crowded out of business by 
the active, thrifty American merchants, to whom, we ob¬ 
serve, they are not quite friendly. 

Such was the New Orleans of 1803, a human oasis in 
a waste of forest, which made up the greater part of the 
new territory. There were, to be sure, in this trackless 
wilderness a few French villages near the mouth of the 
Missouri River. Traders from the British camps in the 
north had found their way as far south as these villages, 
but the great prairies had not been explored, and the 
Rocky Mountains were yet unknown. 

LEWIS AND CLARK’S EXPEDITION 

Before the purchase was made Jefferson had planned an 
expedition to explore this region, and Congress had voted 
money to cany out his plan. Two officers of the United 
States army, Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain Wil¬ 
liam Clark, brother of George Rogers Clark, were put in 
command of the expedition. 

They were to ascend the Missouri River to its head and 


176 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



Meriwether Lewis. 


then find the nearest waterway to the Pacific coast. They 
were directed also to draw maps of the region and to re¬ 
port on the nature of the country 
and the people, plants, animals, 
and other matters of interest in 
the new lands. 

In May, 1804, the little com¬ 
pany of forty-five men left St. 
Louis and started up the Mis¬ 
souri River, passing the scattered 
settlements of French creoles. 
After eleven days they reached 
the home of Daniel Boone, the 
last settlement they passed on the Missouri. Leaving that 
they found no more white settlers 
and very few Indians. But the 
woods were alive with game, so there 
was no lack of food. 

Late in October they arrived at a 
village of Mandan Indians situated 
at the great bend of the Missouri 
River, in what is now known as 
North Dakota. Deciding to winter 
here, they built huts and a stockade, 
calling the camp Fort Mandan. 

The Mandans were used to white men, as the village had 
been visited often by traders from both north and south. 



William Clark. 



INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


177 


Although the Indians gave them no trouble, the ex¬ 
plorers suffered greatly from cold and hunger, game being 
scarce and poor in the winter season. 

When spring came the party, now numbering thirty- 
two, again took up the westward journey. All before them 
was new country. They met few Indians and found 
themselves in one 
of the finest hunt- 
ing-grounds in 
the world. Sage- 
fowl and prairie- 
fowl, ducks of all 
sorts, swans, and 
wild cranes were 
plentiful, while 
huge, flapping 
geese nested in 
the tops of the 

Buffalo Hunted by Indians. 

cottonwood-trees. 

Big game, such as buffalo, elk, antelope, whitetail and 
blacktail deer, and big-horned sheep, was also abundant. 
It happened more than once that the party was detained 
for an hour or more while a great herd of buffalo ploughed 
their way down the bank of a river in a huge column. 

Many of the animals in this region were very tame, for 
they had not learned to fear men. Yet among them the 

explorers found some dangerous enemies. One was the 

13 




178 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


grizzly bear, and another the rattlesnake. But the great¬ 
est scourges of all were the tiny, buzzing mosquitoes, which 
beset them in great swarms. 

The second autumn was almost upon them when they 
arrived at the headwaters of the Missouri, and their hard¬ 
est task was yet to be accomplished. Before them rose 
the mountains. These, they knew, must be crossed before 
they could hope to find any waterway to the coast. The 
boats in which they had come thus far, now being useless, 
were left behind, and horses were procured from a band 
of wandering Indians. 

Then they set out again on their journey, which pres¬ 
ently became most difficult. For nearly a month they 
painfully made their way through dense forests, over steep 
mountains, and across raging torrents, whose icy water 
chilled both man and beast. Sometimes storms of sleet 
and snow beat pitilessly down upon them, and again they 
were almost overcome by oppressive heat. 

Game was so scarce that the men often went hungry ; 
and were even driven to kill some of their horses for food. 

But brighter days were bound to come, and at last they 
reached a river which flowed toward the west. They called 
it Lewis, and it proved to be a branch of the Columbia, 
which led to the sea. With fresh courage they built five ca¬ 
noes, in which the ragged, travel-worn but now triumphant 
men made their way down-stream. The Indians whom 
they met were for the most part friendly, welcoming them 



INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 179 


and providing them with food, though a few tribes were 
troublesome. 

Before the cold of the second winter had set in they 
had reached the forests on the Pacific coast, and here they 
stayed until spring, 
enduring much 
hunger and cold, 
but learning many 
things about the 
habits of the In¬ 
dians. 

The next March, 
as soon as travel 
was safe, they gladly 
turned their faces 
homeward, and after 
a fatiguing jour¬ 
ney of about three 
months, reached the 
Great Plains. 

Then the party 
separated for a time 
into two companies, 

Clark following the 
course of the Yel¬ 
lowstone River, and Lewis the Missouri, planning to meet 
where the two rivers united. 


The Lewis and Clark Expedition Working Its 
Way Westward. 









180 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


This they succeeded in doing, though both parties were 
troubled somewhat by Indians. The Crow Indians stole 
horses from Clark’s party, and eight Blackfoot warriors 
attacked Lewis and three of his men. But Lewis got the 
better of them and captured four of their horses. 

The explorers suffered no further injury, and in Septem¬ 
ber, 1806 , about two years and four months after starting 
out, they were back in St. Louis, with their precious 
maps and notes. They had successfully carried out a mag¬ 
nificent undertaking, and you may be sure they received 
a joyful welcome from their friends. I wonder if any of 
you can tell which of our world’s fairs commemorated the 
leaders of this expedition. 

Through the efforts of these explorers the highway across 
the continent became an established fact. When you think 
of the great trunk lines of railroad, over which fast trains 
cany hundreds of passengers daily, stop a moment and 
remember that it was little more than a hundred years ago 
that we first began to know much about this region! 

ANDREW JACKSON 

The next addition made to our expanding nation was 
in the extreme southeast, and with it we associate the name 
of another of our Presidents, Andrew Jackson. The story 
of how Florida came to be a part of the United States will 
be more interesting if we know something of the career of 
the picturesque hero who brought about its purchase. 


INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


181 


Andrew Jackson was born in Union County, North 
Carolina, in 1767, of poor Scotch-Irish parents, who about 
vtwo years before had come from Ireland. In a little clear¬ 
ing in the woods they had built a rude log hut and settled 
down to hard work. 

But Andrew’s father soon died, and his mother went 
with her children to live in her brother’s home, where she 
spun flax to earn money. She was 
very fond of little Andrew and hoped 
some day to make a minister of him. 

With this in view, she sent him 
to school, where he learned reading, 
writing, and a little ciphering. But 
the little fellow loved nature better 
than books and did not make great 
progress with lessons. You must re¬ 
member, however, that he was far from idle and that he 
did many hard and brave tasks, worth being put into 
books for other boys to read. 

“ Mischievous Andy,” as he was called, was a barefooted, 
freckle-faced lad, slender in body, with bright blue eyes 
and reddish hair, and was full of life and fun. Although 
not robust, he was wiry and energetic, and excelled in run¬ 
ning, jumping, and all rough-and-tumble sports. If, when 
wrestling, a stronger boy threw him to the ground, he was 
so agile that he always managed to regain his feet. 

While he was yet a lad the Revolution broke out, and 



Andrew Jackson. 


182 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


there was severe fighting between the Americans and the 
British near his home. He was only thirteen when he was 
made a prisoner of war. 

One day ; soon after his capture, a British officer gave him 
a pair of muddy boots to clean. The fiery youth flashed 
back: “Sir, I am not your slave. I am your prisoner, and 
as such I refuse to do the work of a slave. 7 ’ Angered by 
this reply, the brutal officer struck the boy a cruel blow 
with his sword, inflicting two severe wounds. 

Andrew was kept in a prison pen about the Camden jail. 
As he was without shelter and almost without food, the 
wounds refused to heal, and in his weak and half-starved 
condition he fell a victim to smallpox. His mother, hearing 
of her boy’s wretched plight, secured his release and took 
him home. He was ill for months, and before he entirely 
recovered his mother died, leaving him quite alone in the 
world. 

In time, however, these early hardships passed, and 
some years later we see Andrew, a young man of twenty- 
one, now become a lawyer. He is over six feet tall, slender, 
straight, and graceful, with a long, slim face, and thick hair 
falling over his forehead and shading his piercing blue eyes. 
He has crossed the mountains with an emigrant party into 
the backwoods region of Tennessee. 

The party arrived at Nashville, where their life was very 
much like that of Daniel Boone in Kentucky. 

Young Jackson passed through many dangers without 


INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


183 



harm, and by his industry and business ability became a 
successful lawyer and in time a wealthy landowner. 

After his marriage he built, on a plantation of one thou¬ 
sand one hundred acres, about ten miles from Nashville, a 


“The Hermitage,” the Home of Andrew Jackson. 

house which he called “The Hermitage.” Here he and his 
wife kept open house for visitors, treating rich and poor 
with like hospitality. His warm heart and generous nature 
were especially shown in his own household, where he was 
kind to all, including his slaves. 

To the end of his life he had a childlike simplicity of 











184 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


nature. But we must not think of him as a faultless man, 
for he was often rough in manner and speech, and his vio¬ 
lent temper got him into serious troubles. Among them 

were some fool¬ 
ish duels. 

Yet, with 
all his faults, 
he was brave 
and patriotic 
and did splen¬ 
did service as 
a fighter in In¬ 
dian wars. After 
one of his duels, 
with a ball in 
his shoulder 
and his left arm 
in a sling, he 
went to lead an 
army of two 

Fighting the Seminole Indians, under Jackson. . . n 

thousand live 

hundred men in an attack on the Creek Indians, who had 
risen against the whites in Alabama. Although weak from a 
long illness, Jackson marched with vigor against the Creeks, 
and after a campaign of much hardship, badly defeated them 
at Horseshoe Bend, in eastern Alabama. He thus broke for 
all time the power of the Indians south of the Ohio River, 












INCREASING THE NEW REPUBLIC 


185 


Some three years later (1817) General Jackson, as he was 
now called, was sent with a body of troops down to southern 
Georgia, to protect the people there from the Seminole In¬ 
dians, who lived in Florida. At this time Florida belonged to 
Spain. Its vast swamps 
and dense forests made 
a place of refuge from 
which outlaws, run¬ 
away negroes, and In¬ 
dians all made a prac¬ 
tice of sallying forth 
in bands across the 
border into southern 
Georgia. There they 
would drive off cattle, 
burn houses, and 
murder men, women, 
and children without 
mercy. 

When Jackson pursued these thieves and murderers, 
they retreated to their hiding-places beyond the boundaries 
of Florida. But it was more than Jackson could endure to 
see his enemy escape him so easily. And, although he was 
exceeding his orders, he followed them across the border, 
burned some of their villages, and hanged some of the 
Indian chiefs. He did not stop until he had all of Florida 
under his control. 











186 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


This was a high-handed proceeding, for that territory 
belonged to Spain. However, serious trouble was avoided 
by our buying Florida (1819). This purchase added ter¬ 
ritory of fifty-nine thousand two hundred and sixty-eight 
square miles to the United States. It was only six thousand 
square miles less than the whole area of New England. 

By studying your map you can easily see how much 
the area of the United States was extended by the pur¬ 
chase of Louisiana and of Florida. The adding of these 
two large territories made America one of the great nations 
of the world in landed estate. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about Jefferson’s boyhood. What kind of student 

was he in college? 

2. How did he help his countrymen before taking up his public life? 

3. Why did the Westerners wish the Mississippi to be open to their 

trade ? 

4. Why was Napoleon willing to sell us the whole of Louisiana? Use 

your map in making clear to yourself just what the Louisiana 
Purchase included. 

5. Why did Jefferson send Lewis and Clark on their famous expedi¬ 

tion? What were the results of this expedition? 

6. What kind of boy was Andrew Jackson? What kind of man? 

7. What part did he take in the events leading up to the purchase ol 

Florida ? 


CHAPTER XIII 


INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 

After the purchase of Louisiana and the explorations 
of Lewis and Clark, the number of settlers who went from 
the eastern part of the country to find new homes in the 
West kept on increasing as it had been doing since Boone, 
Robertson, and Sevier had pushed their way across the 
mountains into Kentucky and Tennessee, twenty-five or 
thirty years earlier. 

These pioneers, if they went westward by land, had 

* 

to load their goods on pack-horses and follow the Indian 
trail. Later the trail was widened into a roadway, and 
wagons could be used. But travel by land was slow and, 
hard under any conditions. 

Going by water, while cheaper, was inconvenient, for 
the travellers must use the flatboat, which was clumsy and 
slow and, worst of all, of little use except when going down 
stream. 

The great need both for travel and for trade, then, was 

a boat which would not be dependent upon wind or current, 

but could be propelled by steam. Many men had tried to 

work out such an invention. Among them was John 

Rumsey, of Maryland, who built a steamboat in 1774, and 

187 


188 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


John Fitch, of Connecticut, who completed his first model 
of a steamboat in 1785. 

In the next four years Fitch built three steamboats, 
the last of which made regular trips on the Delaware River, 
between Philadelphia and Burlington, during the summer 
of 1786. It was used as a passenger boat, and it made a 

speed of eight miles an hour; but 
Fitch was not able to secure enough 
aid from men of capital and in¬ 
fluence to make his boats per¬ 
manently successful. 

The first man to construct a 
steamboat which continued to give 
successful service was Robert Ful¬ 
ton. Robert Fulton was born of 
poor parents in Little Britain, 
Pennsylvania, in 1765, the year of the famous Stamp Act. 
When the boy was only three years old his father died, 
and so Robert was brought up by his mother. She taught 
him at home until he was eight, and then sent him to 
school. Here he showed an unusual liking for drawing. 

Outside of school hours his special delight was to visit 
the shops of mechanics, who humored the boy and let him 
work out his clever ideas with his own hands. 

A story is told of how Robert came into school late one 
morning and gave as his excuse that he had been at a shop 
beating a piece of lead into a pencil. At the same time he 



Robert Fulton. 


INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


189 


took the pencil from his pocket, and showing it to his 
teacher, said: “It is the best one I have ever used.” Upon 
carefully looking at the pencil, the schoolmaster was so 
well pleased that he praised Robert’s efforts, and in a short 
time nearly all the pupils were using that kind of pencil. 



Fulton’s First Experiment with Paddle-Wheels. 


Another example of Robert’s inventive gift belongs to 
his boyhood days. He and one of his playmates from time 
to time went fishing in a flatboat, which they propelled 
with long poles. It was hard work and slow, and pres¬ 
ently Robert thought out an easier way. He made two 
crude paddle-wheels, attached one to each side of the 
boat, and connected them with a sort of double crank. 
By turning this, the boys made the wheels revolve, and 
these carried the boat through the water easily. We may 
be sure that Robert’s boat became very popular, and that 
turning the crank was a privilege in which each boy ea¬ 
gerly took his turn. 























190 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


While still young, Robert began to paint pictures also. 
By the time he was seventeen he had become skilful in 
the use of his brush and went to Philadelphia to devote 
his time to painting portraits and miniatures. Being a 
tireless worker, he earned enough here to support himself 
and send something to his mother. 

At the age of twenty-one his interest in art led him to 
go to London, where he studied for several years under 
Benjamin West. This famous master took young Fulton 
into his household and was very friendly to him. 

After leaving West's studio Fulton still remained in 
England, and although continuing to paint he gave much 
thought also to the development of canal systems. His 
love for invention was getting the better of his love for 
art and was leading him on to the work which made him 
famous. He was about thirty when he finally gave up paint¬ 
ing altogether and turned his whole attention to inventing. 

He went from England to Paris, where he lived in the 
family of Joel Barlow, an American poet and public man. 
Here he made successful experiments with a diving boat 
which he had designed to carry cases of gunpowder under 
water. This was one of the stages in the development of 
our modern torpedo-boat. 

Although this invention alone would give Fulton a 
place in history, it was not one which would affect so many 
people as the later one, the steamboat, with which his 
name is more often associated. 


INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


191 


Even before he had begun to experiment with the tor¬ 
pedo-boat Fulton had been deeply interested in steam 
navigation, and while in Paris he constructed a steamboat. 
In this undertaking he was greatly aided by Robert R. 
Livingston, American minister at the French court, who 
had himself done some experimenting in that line. Liv¬ 
ingston, therefore, was glad to furnish the money which 
Fulton needed in order to build the boat. 

It was finished by the spring of 1803. But just as they 
were getting ready for a trial trip, early one morning the 
boat broke in two parts and sank to the bottom of the 
River Seine. The frame had been too weak to support 
the weight of the heavy machinery. 

Having discovered just what was wrong in this first 
attempt, Fulton built another steamboat soon after his re¬ 
turn to America, in 1806. This boat was one hundred and 
thirty feet long, eighteen feet wide, with mast and sail, and 
had on each side a wheel fifteen feet across. 

On the morning of the day in August, 1807, set for the 
trial of the Clermont—as Fulton called his boat—an ex¬ 
pectant throng of curious onlookers gathered on the banks 
of the North, or Hudson, River, at New York. Every¬ 
body was looking for failure. For though Fitch’s boats 
had made trips in the Delaware only some twenty years 
earlier, the fact did not seem to be generally known. Peo¬ 
ple had all along spoken of Fulton as a half-crazy dreamer 
and had called his boat “Fulton’s Folly.” “Of course, the 



192 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


thing will not move/ 7 said one scoffer. “That any man with 
common sense well knows/ 7 another replied. And yet they 
all stood watching for Fulton's signal to start the boat. 



The “Clermont” in Duplicate at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 1909. 


The signal is given. A slight tremor of motion and the 
boat is still. “There! What did I say? 77 cried one. “I 
told you so ! 77 exclaimed another. “I knew the boat would 
not go/ 7 said yet another. But they spoke too soon, for 
after a little delay the wheels of the Clermont began to 
revolve, slowly and hesitatingly at first, but soon with more 
speed, and the boat steamed proudly off up the Hudson. 







INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


193 


As she moved forward, all along the river people frho 
had come from far and near stood watching the strange 
sight. When boatmen and sailors on the Hudson heard 
the harsh clanking of machinery and saw the huge sparks 
and dense black smoke rising out of her funnel, they thought 
that the Clermont was a sea-monster. In fact, they were 
so frightened that some of them went ashore, some jumped 
into the river to get away, and some fell on their knees in 
fear, believing that their last day had come. It is said that 
one old Dutchman exclaimed to his wife: “I have seen the 
devil coming up the river on a raft!” 

The men who were working the boat had no such fool¬ 
ish fears. They set themselves to their task and made the 
trip from New York to Albany, a distance of one hundred 
and fifty miles, in thirty-two hours. Success had at last 
come to the quiet, modest, persevering Fulton. After this 
trial trip the Clermont was used as a regular passenger 
boat between New York and Albany. 

The steamboat was Fulton’s great gift to the world and 
his last work of public interest. He died in 1815. 

But the Clermont was only the beginning of steam- 
driven craft on the rivers and lakes of our country. Four 
years afterward (1811), the first steamboat west of the 
Alleghany Mountains began its route from Pittsburg down 
the Ohio, and a few years later similar craft were in use on 
the Great Lakes. 

14 


194 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


THE NATIONAL ROAD AND THE ERIE CANAL 

But while steamboats made the rivers and lakes easy 
routes for travel and traffic, something was needed to make 
journeys by land less difficult. To meet this need, new high- 



From, the painting by C. Y. Turner in the DeWitt Clinton High School, New York. 


The Opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. 

vays had to be supplied, and this great work of building 
public roads was taken up by the United States Govern¬ 
ment. Many roads were built, but the most important 
was the one known as the National Road. 

It ran from Cumberland, on the Potomac, through 
Maryland and Pennsylvania to Wheeling, West Virginia, 
on the Ohio River. From there it was extended to Indiana. 




INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


195 


and Illinois, ending at Vandalia, which at that time was the 
capital of Illinois. It was seven hundred miles long, and 
cost seven million dollars. 

This smooth and solid roadway was eighty feet wide; 
it was paved with stone and covered with gravel. Trans- 



From the painting by C. Y. Turner in the DeWitt Clinton High School, Hew York. 

The Ceremony Called “ The Marriage of the Waters.” 

portation became not only much easier but also much 
cheaper. The road filled a long-felt need and a flood of 
travel and traffic immediately swept over it. 

Another kind of highway which proved to be of untold 
value to both the East and the West, was the canal, or arti¬ 
ficial waterway connecting two bodies of water. 

The most important was the Erie Canal, connecting the 











196 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Hudson River and Lake Erie, begun in 1817. This new idea 
received the same scornful attention from the unthinking 
as “ Fulton’s Folly.” By many it was called “ Clinton’s 
Ditch/’ after Governor DeWitt Clinton, to whose foresight 
we are indebted for the building of this much-used water¬ 
way. The scoffers shook their heads and said: “Clinton 
will bankrupt the State”; “The canal is a great extrava¬ 
gance”; and so on. 

But he did not stop because of criticism, and in 1825 
the canal was finished. The undertaking had been pushed 
through in eight years. It was a great triumph for Clinton 
and a proud day for the State. 

When the work was completed the news was signalled 
from Buffalo to New York in a novel way. As you know, 
there was neither telephone nor telegraph then. But at 
intervals of five miles all along the route cannon were 
stationed. When the report from the first cannon was 
heard, the second was fired, and thus the news went boom¬ 
ing eastward till, in an hour and a half, it reached New 
York. 

Clinton himself journeyed to New York in the canal- 
boat Seneca Chief. This was drawn by four gray horses, 
which went along the tow-path beside the canal. As the 
boat passed quietly along, people thronged the banks to 
do honor to the occasion. 

When the Seneca Chief reached New York City, Gov¬ 
ernor Clinton, standing on deck, lifted a gilded keg filled 


INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


197 


with water from Lake Erie and poured it into the harbor. 
As he did so, he prayed that “ the God of the heaven and 
the earth” would smile upon the work just completed and 
make it useful to the human race. Thus was dedicated 



Erie Canal on the Right and Aqueduct over the Mohawk River, New York. 

i 


this great waterway, whose usefulness has more than ful¬ 
filled the hope of its chief promoter. 

Trade between the East and the West began to grow 
rapidly. Vast quantities of manufactured goods were 
moved easily from the East to the West, and supplies of 
food were shipped in the opposite direction. Prices began 
to fall because the cost of carrying goods was so much less. 
It cost ten dollars before the canal was dug to carry a barrel 
of flour from Buffalo to Albany; now it costs thirty cents. 

The region through which the canal ran was at that 
time mostly wilderness, and for some years packets carrying 
passengers as well as freight were drawn through the canal 
by horses travelling the tow-path along the bank. 




198 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


When travelling was so easy and safe, the number of 
people moving westward to this region grew larger rapidly. 
Land was in demand and became more valuable. Farm 
products sold at higher prices. Villages sprang up, fac¬ 
tories were built, and the older towns grew rapidly in size. 


The great cities of New 
York State—and this is 
especially true of New 
York City—owe much 
of their growth to the 
Erie Canal. 



THE KAILROAD 


The steamboat, the 
national highways, and 
the canals were all 
great aids to men in 
travel and in carrying 


Tom Thumb,” Peter Cooper’s Locomotive 
Working Model, First Used Near 
Baltimore in 1830. 


goods. The next great improvement was the use of steam- 
power to transport people and goods overland. It was 
brought about by the railroad and the locomotive. 


In this country, the first laying of rails to make a level 


surface for wheels to roll upon was at Quincy, Massa¬ 
chusetts. This railroad was three miles long, extending 
from the quarry to the seacoast. The cars were drawn by 
horses. 

Our first passenger railroad was begun in 1828. It was 




INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


199 


called the Baltimore and Ohio and was the beginning of 
the railroad as we know it to-day. But those early roads 
would seem very strange now. The rails were of wood, 
covered with a thin strip of iron to protect the wood from 
wear. Even as late as 
the Civil War rails of 
this kind were in use 
in some places. The 
first cross-ties were of 
stone instead of wood, 
and the locomotives 
and cars of early days 
were very crude. 

In 1833, people who 
were coming from the 
West to attend Presi¬ 
dent Jackson’s second 
inauguration travelled 
part of the way by 
railroad. They came 
over the National Road 
as far as Frederick, 

Maryland, and there left it to enter a train of six cars, 
each accommodating sixteen persons. The train was drawn 
by horses. In this manner they continued their journey to 
Baltimore. 

In the autumn of that year a railroad was opened be- 


f@43. RAIL-ROAD ROUTE 1143. 


BErWEEJT 



m mm-iBi sam n m b Jtn u. us. 

■"£<> pay through Ibet ween Albany and -Buffalo, - $ 10. in the best ears, 

, <, ‘l- io -, , 8. in accomodation ear*, 

tviuch havo beenne-arranged, cushioned and lighted. 

Those who nay through between. Albany & Rochester, $8. in the best ears. 

sin. do. do. 6.50 in accomodatlon-carJL 

lilfa 



GOING 'WEST. 


ta Trait 23 Tnln HTnSx 
Lmt® ATWjr. € A. M. 1;P.M. 7; P M. 
P««* 6chenecUdj, 7J A. M. JP.M. 9 P. M. 

Piua l/ticn. l; P. M. JP.M. 4 A. M. 

P*** Syracuse, 5; P. M. 2 A.M. 8 A- M. 

Pm a Auburn. 7 P.M. 4 A.M. 10 A. M. 

Ptsa Rocheittr, 2 A.M.10 AM. 4 P.>f. 
Arrive it Buffalo. 7 A.M. 3 P.M. JP.M. 


GOING EAST. 


Lesw 

Pass 

Pass 

Pars 

Pass 

Pass 


Buffalo* 
Rochester* 
Auburn, 
Syracuse, 
Utica, 


InTialft 2dTnh. 

4 A.M. 9 A M. 4 P M. 
s;a.m. 3 ?. M. jo p. m. 
3; P. M. 9 P.M. 4 A. M. 
3JP. M. Jl PM. 6 A M. 
91P.M. 4JA.M. 10 A.M. 


Schcnecti4y, 31A.M. 10 A. M. 3 P. M. 


Arrive el Albany, 5 A. M. IJ AM. 41 P.M, 


Balsams 53 ill bs maia ms sir mmi wmtbmt. 

Passengers will procure tickets at the offices at Albany, Buffalo or Rochester 
through, to bo entitled to seats at the reduced rAtes. 

Pare will be received at each of the above places to any other place# 
named on the route. 


From an Old Time-table (furnished by the “ABC Pathfinder 
RailwayTjuide 


Railroad Poster of 1843. 






































200 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


tween New Y r ork and Philadelphia. At first horses were 
used to draw the train, but by the end of the year loco¬ 
motives, which ran at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, 
were introduced. This was a tremendous stride in the 
progress of railroad traffic. 

To be sure, the locomotives were small, but two or more 
started off together, each drawing its own little train of 



Comparison of “ DeWitt Clinton ” Locomotive and Train, the First Train Operated 
in New York, with a Modern Locomotive of the New York Central R. R. 


cars. Behind the locomotive was a car wffiich was a mere 
platform with a row of benches, seating perhaps forty 
passengers, inside of an open railing. Then followed four 
or five cars looking very much like stage-coaches, each 
having three compartments, with doors on each side. The 
last car was a high, open-railed van, in which the baggage 
of the wffiole train was heaped up and covered with oilcloth. 
How strange a train of this sort would look beside one of 












( 


INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 201 

our modern express-trains, with its huge engine, and its 
sleeping, dining, and parlor cars! 

You will be surprised that any objection was raised 
to the railroad. Its earliest use had been in England, and 
when there was talk of introducing it in this country some 
people said: “If those who now travel by stage take the 
railroad coaches, then stage-drivers will be thrown out of 
work!” Little could they foresee what a huge army of 
men would find work on the modern railroad. 

In spite of all obstacles and objections, the railroads, 
once begun, grew rapidly in favor. In 1833 there were 
scarcely three hundred and eighty miles of railroad in the 
United States; now there are more than two hundred and 
forty thousand miles. 

MORSE AND THE TELEGRAPH 

The next stride which Progress made seemed even more 
wonderful. Having contrived an easier and a quicker way 
to move men and their belongings from one place to another, 
what should she do but whisper in the ear of a thinking 
man: “You can make thought travel many times faster.” 
The man whose inventive genius made it possible for men 
to flash their thoughts thousands of miles in a few seconds 
of time was Samuel Finley Breese Morse. 

He was born in 1791, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. 
His father was a learned minister, who “was always think¬ 
ing, always writing, always talking, always acting”; and 


202 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


his mother was a woman of noble character, who inspired 
her son with lofty purpose. 

When he was seven he went to Andover, Massachusetts, 
to school, and still later entered Phillips Academy in the 
same town. At fourteen he entered Yale College, where 
from the first he was a good, faithful student. 

As his father was poor, Finley had to help himself along, 
and was able to do it by painting, on ivory, likenesses of 

his classmates and professors, for 
which he received from one dollar 
to five dollars each. In this way 
he made considerable money. 

At the end of his college course 
he made painting his chosen pro¬ 
fession and went to London, where 
he studied four years under Ben¬ 
jamin West. Though for some 
years he divided his time and 
effort between painting and in¬ 
vention, he at last decided to devote himself wholly to 
invention. This change in his life-work was the outcome 
of an incident which took place on a second voyage home 
from Europe, where he had been spending another period 
in study. 

On the ocean steamer the conversation at dinner one 
day was about some experiments with electricity. One 
of the men present said that so far as had been learned from 



S. F. B. Morse. 


INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


203 


experiment electricity passes through any length of wire 
in a second of time. 

“Then,” said Morse, “thought can be transmitted hun¬ 
dreds of miles in a moment by means of electricity; for, if 
electricity will go ten miles without stopping, I can make 
it go around the globe.” 

When once he began to think about this great possi¬ 
bility, the thought held him in its grip. In fact, it shut out 
all others. Through busy days and 
sleepless nights he turned it over 
and over. And often, while en¬ 
gaged in other 
duties, he would 
snatch his note- 

The First Telegraph Instrument. 

book from his 

pocket in order to outline the new instrument he had in mind 
and jot down the signs he would use in sending messages. 

It was not long before he had worked out on paper the 
whole scheme of transmitting thought over long distances 4 
by means of electricity. 

And now began twelve toilsome years of struggle to 
plan and work out machinery for his invention. All these 
years he had to earn money for the support of his three 
motherless children. So he gave up to painting much time 
that he would otherwise have spent upon his invention. 
His progress, therefore, was slow and painful, but he pressed 
forward. He was not the kind of man to give up. 




















204 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


In a room on the fifth floor of a building in New York 
City he toiled at his experiments day and night, with little 
food, and that of the simplest kind. Indeed so meagre 
was his fare, mainly crackers and tea, that he bought 



Modem Telegraph Office. 


provisions at night in order to keep his friends from find¬ 
ing out how great his need was. 

During this time of hardship all that kept starvation 
from his door was lessons in painting to a few pupils. On 
a certain occasion Morse said to one of them, who owed 
him for a few months’ teaching: “Well, Strothers, my boy, 
how are we off for money?” 

“Professor,” said the young fellow, “I am sorry to say I 
have been disappointed, but I expect the money next week.” 

“Next week !” cried his needy teacher; “I shall be dead 
by next week.” 





INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


205 



“Dead, sir?'’ was the shocked response of Strothers. 

“Yes, dead by starvation!” was the emphatic answer. 

“Would ten dollars be of any service?” asked the pupil, 
now seeing that the situ¬ 
ation was serious. 

“Ten dollars would 
save my life,” was the 
reply of the poor man, 
who had been without 
food for twenty-four 
hours. You may be sure 
that Strothers promptly 
handed him the money. 

But in spite of heavy 
trials and many discour¬ 
agements, he had by 
1837 finished a machine 
which he exhibited in 
New York, although he 


did not secure a patent The Operation of the Modern Railroad is De- 

pendent upon the Telegraph. 

until 1840. 


Then followed a tedious effort to induce the govern¬ 
ment at Washington to vote money for his great enter¬ 
prise. Finally, after much delay, the House of Represen¬ 
tatives passed a bill “appropriating thirty thousand dollars 
for a trial of the telegraph.” 

As you may know, a bill cannot become a law unless 














206 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


the Senate also passes it. But the Senate did not seem 
friendly to this one. Many believed that the whole idea 
of the telegraph was rank folly. They thought of Morse 
and the telegraph very much as people had thought of Ful¬ 
ton and the steamboat; and made fun of him as a crazy¬ 
brained fellow. 

Up to the evening of the last day of the session the bill 
had not been taken up by the Senate. Morse sat anxiously 
waiting in the Senate Chamber until nearly midnight; when ; 
believing there was no longer any hope ; he left the room 
and went home with a heavy heart. 

Imagine his surprise the next morning; when a young 
woman; Miss Ellsworth; congratulated him at breakfast 
upon the passage of his bill. At first he could scarcely be¬ 
lieve the good news; but when he found that she was tell¬ 
ing him the truth his joy was unbounded; and he promised 
her that she should choose the nrst message. 

By the next year (1844) a telegraph-line; extending from 
Baltimore to Washington; was ready for use. On the day 
appointed for trial Morse met a party of friends in the 
chambers of the Supreme Court at the Washington end of 
the line and, sitting at the instrument which he had him¬ 
self placed for trial, the happy inventor sent the message 
selected by Miss Ellsworth: “ What hath God wrought!” 

The telegraph was a great and brilliant achievement, 
and brought to its inventor well-earned fame. Now that 
success had come, honors were showered upon him by many 


INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 


207 


countries. At the suggestion of the French Emperor, rep¬ 
resentatives from many countries in Europe met in Paris 
to decide upon some suitable testimonial to Morse as one 
who had done so much for the world. These delegates 
voted him a sum amounting to eighty thousand dollars as 
a token of appreciation for his great invention. 

In 1872 this noble inventor, at the ripe age of eighty- 
one, breathed his last. The grief of the people all over the 
land was strong proof of the place he held in the hearts of 
nis countrymen. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about John Fitch’s steamboats. 

2. Give examples which indicate young Fulton’s inventive gifts. 

Imagine yourself on the banks of the North River on the day 
set for the trial of the Clermont, and tell what happened. 

3. What and where was the National Road? 

4. In what ways was the Erie Canal useful to the people? 

5. Describe the first railroads and the first trains. 

6. Tell what you can about Morse’s twelve toilsome years of strug¬ 

gle while he was working out his great invention. How is 
the telegraph useful to men? 

7. What do you admire about Morse? 

8. Are you making frequent use of your map ? 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


SAM HOUSTON 

In a preceding chapter you learned how the great terri¬ 
tories of Louisiana and Florida came to belong to America 
We are now to learn of still other additions, namely, the 
great regions of Texas and California. 

The most prominent man in the events connected with 
our getting Texas was Sam Houston. 

He was born, of Irish descent, in 
1793, in a farmhouse in Virginia. 
When he was thirteen years old the 
family removed to a place in Ten¬ 
nessee, near the home of the Cherokee 
Indians. The boy received but little 
schooling out in that new country. 
In fact, he cared far less about school 
than he did for the active, free life of 
his Indian neighbors. 

So when his family decided to have 
him learn a trade he ran away from home and joined the 
Cherokees. There he made friends, and one of the chiefs 

adopted him as a son. We may think of him as enjoying 

208 



Sam Houston. 


THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


209 


the sports and games, the hunting and fishing, which took 
up so much of the time of the Indian hoys. 

On returning to his home, at the age of eighteen, he went 
to school for a term at Marysville Academy. In the War 
of 1812 he became a soldier and served under Andrew Jack- 
son in the campaign against the Creek Indians. In the 
battle of Horseshoe Bend he fought with reckless bravery. 
During that fearful struggle he received a wound in the 
thigh. His commander, Jackson, then ordered him to 
stop fighting, but Houston refused to obey and was lead¬ 
ing a desperate charge against the enemy when his right 
arm was shattered. It was a long time before he was well 
and strong again, but he had made a firm friend in Andrew 
Jackson. 

Later Houston studied law and began a successful 
practice. He became so popular in Tennessee that the 
people elected him to many positions of honor and trust, 
the last of which was that of governor. About that time 
he was married, but a few weeks later he and his wife sepa¬ 
rated. Then, suddenly and without giving any reason for 
his strange conduct, he left his home and his State, and 
went far up the Arkansas River to the home of his early 
friends the Cherokee Indians. The Cherokees had been 
removed to that distant country, beyond the Mississippi, 
by the United States Government. 

About a year later Houston, wearing the garb of his 

adopted tribe, went in company with some of them to 

15 


210 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Washington. His stated purpose was to secure a contract 
for furnishing rations to the Cherokees. 

But another purpose was in his mind. He had set 
his heart on winning Texas for the United States. Perhaps 



he talked over the scheme with his friend, President Jack- 
son. However that may be, we know that some three years 
afterward Houston again left his Cherokee friends and went 
to Texas to live. His desire to secure this region for his 
country was as strong as ever. 

At that time Texas was a part of Mexico. Already 
before Houston went down to that far-away land many 
people from the United States had begun to settle there. 
At first they were welcomed. But when the Mexicans 
saw the Americans rapidly growing in numbers they began 











THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


211 


to oppress them. The Mexican Government went so far 
as to require them to give up their private arms ; which 
would leave them defenseless against the Indians as well 
as bad men. Then it passed a law which said, in effect, 
that no more settlers should come to Texas from the United 
States, so that the few thousand 
Americans could not be strength¬ 
ened in numbers. 

Of course, the Texans were in¬ 
dignant, and they rebelled against 
Mexico, declaring Texas to be an 
independent republic. At the same 

time thev elected Houston com- 
%/ 

mander-in-chief of all the Texan 
troops. This began a bitter war. 

The Mexican dictator, Santa Anna, with an army four or 
five thousand strong, marched into Texas to force the peo¬ 
ple to submit to the government. 

The first important event of this struggle was the cap¬ 
ture of the Alamo, an old Texan fortress at San Antonio. 
Although the garrison numbered only one hundred and 
forty, they were men of reckless daring, without fear, and 
they determined to fight to the last. 



DAVID CROCKETT 


Among these hardy fighters was David Crockett, a pio¬ 
neer and adventurer who had Dd a wild, roving life. He 











212 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


was a famous hunter and marksman and, like some of our 
other frontiersmen, was never happier than when he was 
alone in the deep, dark forests. 

Born in eastern Tennessee, in 1786, he received no 
schooling, but he was a man of good understanding. His 
amusing stories and his skill with the rifle had made him 


many friends, who chose him to represent 
their district in the Tennessee Legisla¬ 
ture and later in Congress. 



Like Sam Houston, he had served 
under Andrew Jackson in the war with 
the Creek Indians, and when the struggle 
with Mexico broke out he was one of 
the many brave backwoodsmen who left 
their homes and went down to help the 
Texans. 


David Crockett. 


Afta long journey from Tennessee, 


in which more than once he came near being killed by 
the Indians or wild beasts, he at last reached the fortress 
of the Alamo. He knew he was taking great risks in join¬ 
ing the small garrison there, but that did not hold him 
back. In fact, he liked danger. 

The Mexican army, upon reaching San Antonio, began 
firing upon the Alamo. Their cannon riddled the fort, 
making wide breaches in the weak outer walls through which 
from every side thousands of Mexicans thronged into it. 
The Americans emptied their muskets and then fought 



THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


213 



with knives and revolvers. They fought with desperate 
bravery until only five of the soldiers were left. 

One of these was David Crockett. He had turned 
his musket about and 
was using it as a club 
in his desperate strug¬ 
gle with the scores of 
men who sought his 
life. There he stood, 
his back against the 
wall, with the bodies of 
the Mexicans he had 
slain lying in a semi¬ 
circle about him. His 
foes dared not rush 
upon him, but some of 
them held him at bav 

J 

with their lances, while 
others, having loaded 
their muskets, riddled The Fight at the Alamo - 

his body with bullets. Thus fell brave David Crockett, a 
martyr to his country’s cause. 


A few weeks after the tragedy of the Alamo, Santa Anna’s 
army massacred a force of five hundred Texans at Goliad. 
The outlook for the Texan cause was now dark enough. 
But Sam Houston, who commanded something like seven 












214 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


hundred Texans ; would not give up. He retreated east¬ 
ward for some two hundred and fifty miles. But when he 
learned that Santa Anna had broken up his army into three 
divisions and was approaching with only about one thou¬ 
sand six hundred men Houston halted his troops and waited 
for them to come up. On their approach he stood ready 
for attack in a well-chosen spot near the San Jacinto River, 
where he defeated Santa Anna and took him prisoner. 

The Texans now organized a separate government; and 
in the following autumn elected Houston as the first Presi¬ 
dent of the Republic of Texas. He did all he could to 
bring about the annexation of Texas to the United States 
and at last succeeded; for Texas entered our Union in 1845. 
It was to be expected that the people of Mexico would not 
like this. They were very angry, and the outcome was the 
Mexican War which lasted nearly two years. 

In 1846 Texas sent Houston to the United States Senate, 
where he served his State for fourteen years. When the 
Civil War broke out he was governor of Texas and; although 
his State seceded; Houston remained firm for the Union. 
On his refusal to resign ; he was forced to give up his office. 
He died in 1863. 

JOHN C. FREMONT THE PATHFINDER 

Still another man who acted as agent in this transfer of 
land from Mexico was John C. Fremont. He helped in 
securing California. 


THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


215 


He was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1813. His father 
died when he was a young child, and his mother went to 
Charleston, South Carolina, to live, and there gave her son 



John C. Fremont. 


a good education. After graduating from Charleston Col¬ 
lege he was employed by the government as assistant 
engineer in making surveys for a 
railroad between Charleston and 
Cincinnati, and also in exploring 
the mountain passes between North 
Carolina and Tennessee. 

He enjoyed this work so much ^ 

1 1 

that he was eager to explore the \ 
regions of the far western part of 
our country, which were still largely 
unknown. Accordingly, he made 
several expeditions beyond the Rocky Mountains, three of 
which are of special importance in our stor}^. 

His first expedition was made in 1842, when he was sent 
out by the War Department to explore the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains, especially the South Pass, which is in the State of 
Wyoming. He made his way up the Kansas River, crossed 
over to the Platte, which he ascended, and then pushed on 
to the South Pass. Four months after starting he had ex¬ 
plored this pass and, with four of his men, had gone up to 
the top of Fremont’s Peak, where he unfurled to the breeze 
the beautiful stars and stripes. 

The excellent report he made of the expedition was 


216 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


examined with much interest by men of science in our own 
country and in foreign lands. 

In this and also in his second expedition Fremont re¬ 



ceived much help from a follower. Kit Carson. Kit Carson 

was one of the fa¬ 
mous scouts and 
hunters of the 
West, who felt 
smothered by the 
civilization of a 
town or city, and 
loved the free, 
roaming life of the 
woodsman. 

Before joining 
Fremont, Kit Car- 
son had travelled 
over nearly all of 
the Rocky Moun¬ 
tain country. Up 
to 1834 he was a 
trapper, and had 

Fremont’s Expedition Crossing the Rocky Mountains. 

wandered back and 

forth among the mountains until they had become very 
familiar to him. During the next eight years, in which he 
served as hunter for Bent’s Fort, on the Arkansas River, 
he learned to know the great plains. He was, therefore, 
verv useful to Fremont as a £uide. 
























THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


217 


He was also well acquainted with many Indian tribes. 
He knew their customs, he understood their methods of 
warfare, and was well liked by the Indians themselves. 
He spoke their chief languages as well as he did his mother 
tongue. 

After returning from his first expedition, Fremont made 
up his mind to explore the region between the Rocky 
Mountains and the Pacific. He suc¬ 
ceeded in getting orders from the 
government to do this, and set out 
on his second expedition in May, 

1843, with thirty-nine men, Kit 
Carson again acting as guide. 

The party left the little town of 
Kansas City in May and, in Septem¬ 
ber, after travelling for one thousand 

. -i . .. . Kit Carson. 

seven hundred miles, they reached a 

vast expanse of water which excited great interest. It was 
much larger than the whole State of Delaware, and its 
waters were salt. It was, therefore, given the name of 
Great Salt Lake. 

Passing on, Fremont reached the upper branch of the 
Columbia River. Then pushing forward down the valley of 
this river, he went as far as Fort Vancouver, near its mouth. 
Having reached the coast, he remained only a few days and 
then set out on his return (November 10). 

His plan was to make his way around the Great Basin, 
a vast, deep valley lying east of the Sierra N wada Moun- 




218 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


tains. But it was not long before heavy snow on the 
mountains forced him to go down into this basin. He soon 
found that he was in a wild desert region in the depths 
of winter, facing death from cold and starvation. The sit¬ 
uation was desperate. 

Fremont judged that they were about as far south as 
San Francisco Bay. If this was true, he knew that the dis¬ 
tance to that place was only about seventy miles. But to 
reach San Francisco Bay it was necessary to cross the moun¬ 
tains, and the Indians refused to act as guides, telling him 
that men could not possibly cross the steep, rugged heights 
in winter. This did not stop Fremont. He said: “We’ll 
go, guides or no guides!” And go they did. 

It was a terrible journey. Sometimes they came to 
places where the snow was one hundred feet deep or more. 
But they pushed forward for nearly six weeks. Finally, 
after suffering from intense cold and from lack of food, they 
made their way down the western side of the mountains, 
men and horses alike being in such a starved condition that 
they were almost walking skeletons. 

At last they reached Sutter’s Fort, now the city of Sac¬ 
ramento, where they enjoyed the hospitality of Captain 
Sutter. After remaining there for a short time, Fremont 
recrossed the mountains, five hundred miles farther south, 
and continued to Utah Lake, which is twenty-eight miles 
south of Great Salt Lake. He had travelled entirely around 
the Great Basin. 


THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


219 


From Utah Lake he hastened across the country to 
Washington, with the account of his journey and of the 
discoveries he had made. 

In 1845 Captain Fremont—for he had now been pro¬ 
moted to the rank of captain by the government—started 



out on his third expedition, with the purpose of exploring 
the Great Basin and then proceeding to the coast of what 
is now California and upward to Oregon. 

Having explored the basin, he was on his way to Ore¬ 
gon, when he learned that the Mexicans were plotting to 
kill all the Americans in the valley of the Sacramento 
River. He therefore turned back to northern California, 
and with a force made up in part of American settlers 
gathered from the country round about, he took posses¬ 
sion of that region, marched as fast as possible to Mon¬ 
terey, and captured that place also. Within about two 















220 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


months he had conquered practically all of California for 
the United States. 

Fremont then made his home in California. On the 
4th of the following July he was elected governor of the terri¬ 
tory by the settlers then living there. Eleven years later the 
Republican party of the United States nominated him for 

President, but failed to elect him. He died in 1890. He 

* • 

has well been called “the Pathfinder.” 

Fremont’s conquest of California was, in effect, a part 
of the Mexican War, which began in 1846. After nearly two 
years of fighting a treaty of peace was signed, by which 
Mexico ceded to the United States not only California, 
but also much of the vast region now included in Nevada, 
Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. 

This region, which is called the Mexican Cession, con¬ 
tained five hundred and forty-five thousand seven hundred 
and eighty-three square miles, while Texas included five 
hundred and seventy-six thousand one hundred and thirty- 
three square miles. These two areas together were, like 
Louisiana, much larger than the whole of the United States 
at the end of the Revolution. With the addition of Louisi¬ 
ana in 1803, of Florida in 1819, of Texas in 1845, and of 
this region in 1848, the United States had enormously 
increased her territory. 


THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


221 


THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD 

On the same day on which the treaty of peace was signed 
with Mexico (February 2, 1848), gold was discovered in 
California. 

Captain Sutter, a Swiss pioneer living near the site of 
the present city of Sacramento—at Sutter’s Fort, where 



Sutter’s Mill. 


Fremont stopped on his second expedition—was having a 
water-power sawmill built up the river at some distance 
from his home. One day one of the workmen, while walking 
along the mill-race, discovered some bright yellow particles, 
the largest of which were about the size of grains of wheat. 
On testing them, Captain Sutter found that they were gold. 

He tried to keep the discovery a secret, but it was im¬ 
possible to prevent the news from spreading. “Gold! 








222 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Gold! Gold!” seemed to ring through the air. From all 
the neighboring country men started in a mad rush for the 
gold-fields. Houses were left half built, fields half ploughed. 
“To the diggings!” was the watchword. From the moun¬ 
tains to the coast, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, set¬ 
tlements were abandoned. Even vessels that came into the 
harbor of San Francisco were deserted by their crews, sailors 
and captains alike being wild in their desire to dig for gold. 

Within four months of the first discovery four thousand 
men were living in the neighborhood of Sacramento. The 
sudden coming together of so many people made it difficult 
to get supplies, and they rose in value. Tools of many 
kinds sold for large prices. Pickaxes, crowbars, and spades 
cost from ten dollars to fifty dollars apiece. Bowls, trays, 
dishes, and even warming-pans were eagerly sought, because 
they could be used in washing gold. 

It was late in the year before people in the East learned 
of the discovery, for news still travelled slowly. But when 
it arrived, men of every class—farmers, mechanics, lawyers, 
doctors, and even ministers—started West. 

The journey might be made in three ways. One was 
by sailing-vessels around Cape Horn. This route took 
from five to seven months. Another way was to sail from 
some Eastern port to the Isthmus of Panama, and crossing 
this, to take ship to San Francisco. The third route was 
overland, from what is now St. Joseph, Missouri, and re¬ 
quired three or four months. This could not be taken 


THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER 


223 



until spring, and some who were unwilling to wait started 
at once by the water-routes. 

Men were so eager to go that often several joined to¬ 
gether to buy an outfit of oxen, mules, wagons, and pro¬ 
visions. They made the journey in covered wagons called 


Placer-Mining in the days of the California Gold Rush. 

“prairie-schooners,’ 7 while their goods followed in peddlers’ 
carts. It often happened that out on the plains they missed 
their way, for there was no travelled road, and a compass 
was as necessary as if they had been on the ocean. 

Journeying thus by day, and camping by night, they 
suffered many hardships while on the way. Disease laid 
hold of them. Four thousand died from cholera during 
the first year, and many more for lack of suitable food. 
















224 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


In some cases they had to kill and eat their mules, and at 
times they lived on rattlesnakes. The scattered bones of 
men and beasts marked the trail; for in the frantic desire 
to reach the diggings the wayfarers would not always stop 
to bury their dead. 

When the gold region was reached, tents, wigwams, 
bark huts, and brush arbors served as shelter. The men 
did their own cooking, washing, and mending, and food 
soared to famine prices. A woman or a child was a rare 
sight in all that eager throng, for men in their haste had 
left their families behind. 

It was a time of great excitement. Perhaps you have 
a grandparent who can tell you something of those stirring 
days. The gold craze of J 49 is a never-to-be-forgotten 
event in our history. As the search for nuggets and gold- 
dust became less fruitful, many of the men turned home¬ 
ward, some enriched and some—alas !—having lost all they 
possessed. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What kind of boy was Houston? What kind of man? What 

did he do for Texas? 

2. Tell about David Crockett’s heroism at the Alamo. 

3. When reading about Fremont’s explorations look up on the map 

every one of them. What do you think of him ? 

4. Who was Kit Carson, and how did he help Fremont? 

5. Locate on your map every acquisition of territory from the end 

of the Revolution to 1848. 

6. Imagine yourself going to California across the plains and moun¬ 

tains in 1849, and give an account of your experiences. 




CHAPTER XV 
THREE GREAT STATESMEN 

JOHN C. CALHOUN 

The territory which we obtained from Mexico added 
much to the vastness of our country. But it led to a 
bitter dispute between the North and the South over 
slavery. For the North said: “ All 
this territory shall be free.” The 
South said: “It must all be open 
to slavery.” 

The trouble over slavery was 
no new thing. It had begun to 
be really serious and dangerous 
many years before the Mexican 
War. To understand why, a year 
or two after the close of this war, 

John C. Calhoun. 

there should be such deep and 

violent feeling over the question of making the territory 
free or opening it to slavery, we must go back to some earlier 
events in the history of the Union. 

In doing so, we shall find it simpler to follow the careers 
of three great statesmen, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, 
and Daniel Webster, who took each a prominent part in the 



events- 

16 


225 


220 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


John C. Calhoun, born in South Carolina in 1782, was 
the youngest but one of a family of five children. His 
father died when he was only thirteen, and until he was 
eighteen he remained on the farm, living a quiet, simple 
out-of-door life, ploughing, hunting, riding, and fishing. 

Then his brother, who had observed John’s quickness 
of mind, persuaded him to get an education. After study¬ 
ing two years and a 
quarter in an acad¬ 
emy, he entered 
the junior class at 
Y r ale College. Grad¬ 
uating in 1804, he 
at once took a 
course in the law 

Calhoun’s Office and Library. . 

school at Litchfield, 

Connecticut, and then returned home to complete his 
studies for the bar. 

Calhoun’s conduct in school was above reproach, and 
as a man he was always steady and serious-minded. Dur¬ 
ing the early years of his public life he won much praise 
for his close attention to work, his stately speeches, and 
his courteous manners. His slender and erect form, his 
dignified bearing, and his piercing dark eyes made him an 
impressive figure; while, as a speaker, his powerful voice 
and winning manner were sure to command attention. 

In 1808 he entered the South Carolina Legislature. This 















THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


227 


was the beginning of his long public career of more than 
forty years. During this time he served his country as a 
representative in Congress, Secretary of War, Vice-President 

of the United States, Secretary of State, and United States 

> 

senator. 

In all these many years he was a prominent leader, 
especially in those events which concerned the slave-holding 
Southern planter. This we shall see later, after we have 
made the acquaintance of the second of the powerful trio 
of great statesmen, Henry Clay. 

HENRY CLAY 

Henry Clay was born near Richmond, Virginia, in 1777, 
in a low, level region called “the Slashes.” He was one of 
seven children. His father was a Baptist clergyman, of 
fine voice and pleasing manner of speaking. He died when 
little Henry was four years old, leaving but a small sum for 
his family to live upon. 

Henry went, like the other boys of “the Slashes,” to a 

tiny log school without windows or floor. The school- 

« 

master, who knew very little himself, taught the boys to 
read, write, and cipher. But that was all. 

Outside of school hours Henry shared in the farm work. 
He helped with the ploughing and often rode the family 
pony to the mill, using a rope for a bridle and a bag of corn, 
wheat, meal, or flour for a saddle. For this reason he has 
been called “the Mill Boy of the Slashes.” 


228 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


When fourteen years old he was given a place as clerk 
in a Richmond drug store. But he was not to stay there 

long, for about this time his 
mother married again, and his 
stepfather became interested in 
him. Realizing that Henry was a 
boy of unusual ability, he secured 
for him a place as copying clerk in 
the office of the Court of Chancery 
at Richmond. 

Henry was fifteen years old, 
tall, thin, and homely, when he 
entered this office. The other 
clerks were inclined to jeer at his 
awkwardness and his plain, home-made, ill-fitting clothes. 
But Henry’s sharp retorts quickly silenced them, and they 
soon grew to respect and like him. He was an earnest stu¬ 
dent. He stayed 
indoors and read 
in the evenings, 
while the other 
young fellows were 
idling about the 
town. He was 
eager to do some¬ 
thing in the world. 

His opportunity 



The Birthplace of Henry Clay, near Richmond. 



Henry Clay. 





























THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


229 


soon came in the ordinary course of his daily work. His 
fine handwriting attracted the notice of the chancellor, a 
very able lawyer. This man was wise and kindly and had 
a deep influence on his young friend. 

Clay joined the Richmond Debating Society and soon 
became the star speaker. He improved his speaking by 
studying daily some passage in a book of history or science, 
and then going out 


into a quiet place 
and declaiming what 
he had learned. 

The chancellor 
knew about this, 
and it pleased him. 

He advised Henry 
Clay to study law, 
and within a year 
after his studies began, when he was only twenty-one years 
old, he was admitted to the bar. 

To begin his law practice, he went to Lexington, Ken¬ 
tucky, which was then a small place of not more than fifty 
houses; but Clay very soon built up a good practice. Al¬ 
though he had arrived with scarcely a penny, within a year 
and a half he had been so successful that he was able to 
marry the daughter of a leading family. He soon owned 
a beautiful estate near Lexington, which he called “Ash¬ 
land,” and with it several slaves. 



The Schoolhouse in “the Slashes.” 













230 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


He became a great favorite among the people of the 
State, largely because he was absolutely truthful and hon¬ 
est in all his dealings. He was also talented, good-natured, 
and friendly to all. It is said that no man has ever had 
such power to influence a Kentucky jury as Clay. 

Twice he was sent to the United States Senate to fill 
seats left vacant by resignation, and here his power as a 
speaker was so marked that when it was known that he 
would address the Senate the galleries were always full. 

Such was the beginning of his life as a statesman. It 
lasted some forty years, and during this long period he 
was a prominent leader in the great events having to do 
with the country’s future. 

He filled various national offices. He was Speaker of 
the House of Representatives for many years, was four 
years Secretary of State, and during much more than half 
of the time between 1S31 and 1852 he was in the United 
States Senate. Three times he was a candidate for Presi¬ 
dent, but .each time he failed of election. 

He would not swerve by a hair’s breadth from what he 
considered his duty, even for party ends. “I would rather 
be right than be President,” he said, and men knew that he 
was sincere. 

Living in a Southern State, he would naturally have the 
interests of the South at heart. But he did not always take 
her part. While Calhoun was apt to see but one side of 
a question, Clay was inclined to see something of both sides 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


231 


and to present his views in such a way as to bring about a 
settlement. Therefore he was called “the Great Peace¬ 
maker. 

His most important work as a peacemaker had to do 
with the Missouri Compromise (1820), the compromise 
tariff (1833), and the Compromise of 1850—all of which 
we look into a little farther on, after we come to know some¬ 
thing about the last and perhaps the greatest of our three 
statesmen, Daniel AVebster. For all three were interested 
in the same great movement. 

DANIEL WEBSTER 

Daniel AVebster was born among the hills of New Hamp¬ 
shire, in 1782, the son of a poor farmer, and the ninth of 
ten children. As he was a frail child, not able to work much 
on the farm, his parents permitted him to spend much of 
his time fishing, hunting, and roaming at will over the hills. 
Thus he came into close touch with nature and absorbed a 
kind of knowledge which was very useful to him in later 
years. 

He was always learning things, sometimes in most un¬ 
usual ways, as is shown by an incident which took place 
when he was only eight years old. Having seen in a store 
near his home a small cotton handkerchief with the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States printed upon it, he gathered 
up his small earnings to the amount of twenty-five cents 
and eagerly secured the treasure. From this unusual copy 


232 LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 

« 

he learned the Constitution word for word, so that he 
could repeat it from beginning to end. 

Of course, this was a most remarkable thing for an 
eight-year-old boy to do, but the boy was himself remark¬ 
able. He spent much of his time poring over books. They 
were few in number but of good quality, and he read them 

over and over again until they 
became a part of himself. It 
gave him keen pleasure to 
memorize fine poems and also 
noble selections from the Bible, 
for he learned easily and re¬ 
membered well what he learned. 
In this way he stored his mind 
with the highest kind of truth. 

When he was fourteen his 
father sent him to Phillips 
Exeter Academy. The boys he met there were mostly from 
homes of wealth and culture. Some of them were rude 
and laughed at Daniel’s plain dress and country manners. 
Of course, the poor boy, whose health was not robust and 
who was by nature shy and independent, found such treat¬ 
ment hard to bear. But he studied well and soon com¬ 
manded respect because of his good work. 

After leaving this school he studied for six months 
under a private tutor, and at the age of fifteen he was 
prepared to enter Dartmouth College. Although he proved 





THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


233 


himself to be a youth of unusual mental power, he did 
not take high rank in scholarship. But he continued to 
read widely and thoughtfully and stored up much valu¬ 
able knowledge, which later he used with clearness and 
force in conversation and debate. 

After being graduated from college Daniel taught for 
a year and earned money enough to help pay his brother’s 
college expenses. The following year he studied law and in 
due time was admitted to the bar. As a lawyer he was 
very successful, his income sometimes amounting to twenty 
thousand dollars in a single year. In those days that was 
a very large sum. 

But he could not manage his money affairs well and, no 
matter how large his income, he was always in debt. This 
unfortunate state of affairs was owing to a reckless extrava¬ 
gance, which he displayed in many ways. 

Indeed, Webster was a man of such large ideas that 
of necessity he did all things on a large scale. It was 
vastness that appealed to him. And this ruling force 
in his nature explains his eagerness to keep the Union 
whole and supreme over the States. This we shall soon 
clearly see. 


SLAVERY AND THE TARIFF 

Having taken this glimpse of our three heroes, let us 
see how the great events of their time were largely moulded 
by their influence. All of these events, as we are soon to 


234 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


learn, had a direct bearing on slavery, and that was the 
great question of the day. 

Up to the Revolution there was slavery in all the thir¬ 
teen colonies. Some of them wished to get rid of it; but 
England, the mother country, would not allow them to do 
so, because she profited by the trade in slaves. After the 
Revolution, however, when the States were free to do as 
they pleased about slavery, some put an end to it on their 
own soil, and in time Pennsylvania and the States to the 
north and east of it became free States. 

Many people then believed that slavery would by de¬ 
grees die out of the land, and perhaps this would have hap¬ 
pened if the growing of cotton had not been made profitable 
by Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton-gin. 

After that invention came into use, instead of slavery’s 
dying out, it took a much stronger hold upon the planters 
of the South than it had ever done before. 

This fact became very evident when Missouri applied 
for admission into the Union. The South, of course, wished 
it to come into the Union as a slave State; the North, 
fearing the extension of slavery into the Louisiana Pur¬ 
chase, was equally set upon its coming in as a free State. 

The struggle over the question was a long and bitter 
one, but finalfy both the North and the South agreed to 
give up a part of what they wanted; that is, they agreed 
upon a compromise. It was this: Missouri was to enter 
the Union as a slave State, but slavery was not to be allowed 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


235 


in any part of the Louisiana Purchase which lay north or 
west of Missouri. This was called the Missouri Compromise 
( 1820 ). 

It was brought about largely through the eloquence and 
power of Henry Clay, and because of his part in it he was 
called “the Great Peacemaker.” But Calhoun was one of 
the men who did not think the Missouri Compromise was 
a good thing for the country. He therefore strongly op¬ 
posed it. 

The next clash between the free States and the slave 
States was caused by the question of the tariff or tax upon 
goods brought from foreign countries. Not long after the 
Missouri Compromise was agreed upon, Northern manufac¬ 
turers were urging Congress to pass a high-tariff law. They 
said that, inasmuch as factory labor in England was so much 
cheaper than in this country, goods made in England could 
be sold for less money here than our own factory-made 
goods, unless a law was passed requiring a tax, or duty, to 
be paid upon the goods brought over. Such a tax was 
called a protective tariff. 

Calhoun, who voiced the feeling of the Southern plant¬ 
ers, said: “This high tariff is unfair, for, while it protects 
the Northern man, it makes us of the South poorer, because 
we have to pay so high for the things we do not make.” 

You understand, there were no factories in the South, 
for the people were mostly planters. With the cheap slave 
tabor, a Southern man could make more money by raising 


236 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


rice, cotton, sugar, or tobacco than he could by manufac¬ 
turing. Also, it was thought that the soil and climate of 
the South made that section better fitted for agriculture 
than for anything else. 

“So the South should be allowed, 77 said Calhoun, “to 
buy the manufactured goods—such as cheap clothing for 



The Home of Daniel Webster, Marshfield, Mass. 


her slaves, and household tools and farming implements— 
where she can buy them at the lowest prices. 77 

But in spite of this bitter opposition in the South, Con¬ 
gress passed the high-tariff law in 1828, and another in 1832. 

The people of South Carolina were indignant. So, 
under the guidance of Calhoun, some of the leading men 
there met in convention and declared: “We here and now 
nullify the tariff laws. 7 ’ By these words they meant that 
the laws should not be carried out in South Carolina. 
Then they added: “If the United States Government tries 
to enforce these laws on our soil, South Carolina will go 
out of the Union and form a separate nation. 77 























THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


237 


Andrew Jackson was at that time President of the 
United States. Although he himself did not favor a high 
tariff, he was firm in his purpose that whatever law Congress 
might pass should be enforced in every State in the Union. 
When the news came to him of what South Carolina had 
done, he was quietly smoking his corn-cob pipe. In a 
flash of anger he declared: “The Union ! It must and shall 
be preserved! Send for General Scott!” General Scott 
was commander of the United States army, and “Old 
Hickory,” as President Jackson was proudly called by many 
of his admirers, was ready to use the army and the navy, 
if necessary, to force any State to obey the law. 

In this bitter controversy Daniel Webster, then senator 
from Massachusetts, had taken a bold stand for the Union. 
He said: “Congress passed the tariff law for the whole 
country. If the Supreme Court decides that Congress has 
the power, according to the Constitution, to pass such a 
law, that settles the matter. South Carolina and every 
other State must submit to this and every other law which 
Congress sees fit to make.” 

This shows clearly that Daniel Webster's belief was 
that the Union stood first and the State second. His deep 
love for the Union breathes all through his masterly speeches, 
the most famous of which is his “ Reply to Hayne.” Hayne, 
a senator from South Carolina, was on the side of the 
South and set forth its views in a public debate. He had 
declared that the State was first and the Union second, and 


238 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


so powerful seemed his arguments that many doubted 
whether even Daniel Webster could answer them. 

But he did answer them. In a remarkable speech of 
four hours he held his listeners spellbound, while he argued, 
with wonderful eloquence and power, that the Union was 
supreme over the States. 

Again the great peacemaker, Henry Clay, brought for¬ 
ward a plan of settling the trouble between the two sections. 
By this compromise the duties were to be gradually lowered. 
This plan was adopted by Congress (1833), and again there 
was peace for a time. 

THE COMPROMISE OF 1S50 

The next dangerous outbreak between the North and 
the South came at the end of the Mexican War. Then 
arose the burning question: “Shall the territory we have 
acquired from Mexico be free or open to slavery ?” Of 
course, the North wanted it to be free; the South wanted it 
to be open to slavery. 

Henry Clay tried again, as he had tried twice before— 
in 1820 and in 1833—to pour oil upon the troubled waters. 
Although he was now an old man of seventy-two and in 
poor health, he spoke seventy times in his powerful, per¬ 
suasive way, to bring about the Compromise of 1850, which 
he hoped would establish harmony between the North and 
the South and save the Union. 

On one occasion when he was to speak he had to enter 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


239 


the Capitol leaning upon the arm of a friend, because he 
was too weak to climb the steps alone. After entering 
the Senate Chamber that day, the great speech he made 
was so long that his friends, fearing fatal results, urged him 
to stop. But he re¬ 
fused. Later he said 
that he did not dare to 
stop for fear he should 
never be able to begin 
again. 

Calhoun was no less 
ready to do all he could. 

Early in March, 1850, 
the white-haired man, 
now in his sixty-eighth 
year and, like Clay, 
struggling with illness, 
went to the Senate Chamber, swathed in flannels, to make 
his last appeal in behalf of the slaveholders. The powerful 
speech he made, which was intended as a warning to the 
North, expressed the deep and sincere conviction of the 
aged statesman that the break-up of the Union was at hand. 
He made a strong plea that the agitation against slavery 
should stop, and that the South, which, he said, was the 
weaker section, should be treated fairly by her stronger 
antagonist, the North. 

Having made this last supreme effort in defense of the 




240 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


section which he loved as he loved his own life, the pro¬ 
slavery veteran, supported by two of his friends, passed 
out of the Senate Chamber. 

But in spite of Calhoun’s opposition, the Compromise 
of 1850 passed. “Let California come in as a free State,” 
it said. This pleased the North. “Let the people in all 
the rest of the territory which we got from Mexico decide 
for themselves whether they shall have slavery or freedom.” 
This pleased the South. It also adopted the Fugitive Slave 
Law, which said: “When slaves run away from the South 
into the Northern States, they shall be returned to their 
masters; and when Northern people, are called upon to 
help to capture them, they shall do so.” 

A month after his speech on this compromise Calhoun 
died. The last twenty years of his life had been largely 
devoted to trying to secure what he regarded as the rights 
of the slaveholders and of the whole South. He was hon¬ 
est in his views. He was also sincere in his convictions that 
the South was not receiving fair treatment from the North. 

Henry Clay also died in 1852. Some of the qualities 
that gave him his rare power over men were his magical 
voice, which was so deep and melodious that many people 
of his time said it was the finest musical instrument they 
had ever heard; his cheerful nature, which made him keenly 
enjoy life and delight to see others enjoy it; and above all 
else his never-swerving sincerity and honesty, which com¬ 
manded the respect and confidence of all who knew him. 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


241 


Men believed that Henry Clay was a true man. His popu¬ 
larity grew in strength as he grew in years. His many 
followers proudly called him “ Gallant Harry of the West.” 

Webster’s power as an orator was still more remarkable. 
His voice was wonderful, his style was forceful, and his lan¬ 
guage was simple and direct. But after all, it was his 
striking personal appearance which made the deepest im¬ 
pression upon the men and women who heard him speak. 
It is told that one day when he was walking through a street 
of Liverpool, a navvy said of him: “That must be a king!” 
On another occasion Sydney Smith exclaimed: “Good 
heavens, he is a small cathedral by himself!” He was 
nearly six feet tall. He had a massive head, a broad, deep 
brow, and great, coal-black eyes, which once seen could 
never be forgotten. 

He, too, was faithful in his devotion to his country. 
To the day of his death he showed his deep affection for 
the flag, the emblem of that Union which had inspired his 
noblest efforts. During the last two weeks of his life he 
was troubled much with sleeplessness. While through his 
open window he gazed at the starlit sky, his eyes would 
sometimes fall upon a small boat belonging to him, which 
floated near the shore not far away. By his direction a 
ship lantern had been so placed that its light would fall 
upon the stars and stripes flying there. At six in the 
evening the flag was raised and was kept flying until six 

in the morning up to the day of Webster’s death. 

17 


242 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


He died in September, 1852, only a few weeks after his 
great compeer, Henry Clay. His was a master spirit, and 
the sorrow of his passing was well expressed by the stranger 
who said, when he looked at the face of the dead: “Daniel 
Webster, the world without you will be lonesome.” 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What can you tell about the early life of John C. Calhoun? 0* 

Henry Clay? Of Daniel Webster? 

2. Why was Clay called “the Great Peacemaker”? 

3. Why were the people of South Carolina opposed to the high tariff 

laws of 1828 and 1832 ? 

4. What was Webster’s idea of the Union, and in what way did it 

differ from Hayne’s ? 

5. What was the Missouri Compromise ? What was the Compromise 

of 1850? 

6. What do you admire about each of the three great statesmen? 

7. Are you making frequent use of your maps ? 


CHAPTER XVI 
THE CIVIL WAR 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

It was thought by many that the Compromise of 1850 
would put an end to the bitter and violent feeling over 
the spread of slavery ; but it did not. For in the North 
the opposition to its extension into 
new States became so powerful that 
in five years there had grown up a 
great political party—the Repub¬ 
lican party—whose main purpose 
was to oppose the spread of slavery. 

One of its ablest and most inspir¬ 
ing leaders was Abraham Lincoln. 

He was born in a rough cabin in 
Kentucky, February 12, 1809. 

When he was seven years old, the family moved to Indiana, 
and settled about eighteen miles north of the Ohio River. 
The journey to their new home was very tedious and 
lonely, for in some places they had to cut a roadway 
through the forest. It took them three days to travel the 
last eighteen miles. 

Having arrived safely in November, all set vigorously 

243 



Abraham Lincoln. 




244 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


to work to provide a shelter against the winter. The seven- 
year old boy was healthy, rugged, and active, and from early 
morning till late evening he worked with his father, chop¬ 
ping trees and cutting poles and boughs for their “camp,” 
the rude shelter in which they were to live until spring. 

This “camp” was a mere shed, only fourteen feet square 
and open on one side. It was built of poles lying one upon 
another and had a thatched roof of boughs and leaves. 
As there was no chimney, there could be no fire within the 

enclosure, and it was nec¬ 
essary to keep one burning 
all the time just in front 
of the open side. 

During this first winter 
Lincoln’s Birthplace. j n the wild woods of In¬ 

diana the little boy must have lived a very busy life. There 
was much to do in building the cabin which was to take the 
place of the “camp,” and in cutting down trees and making 
a clearing for the corn-planting of the coming spring. 

After spending the winter in the “camp,” the Lincoln 
family, in the following spring, moved into the newly built 
log cabin. This had no windows, and no floor except the 
bare earth. There was an opening on one side, which was 
used as a doorway, but there was no door, nor was there so 
much as an animal's skin to keep out the rain or the snow 
or to protect the family from the cold wind. 

In this rough abode the rude and simple furniture was 







THE CIVIL WAR 


245 


very much like what we have already seen in the cabins of 
the Tennessee settlers. For chairs there was the same kind 
of three-legged stools, made by smoothing the flat side of a 
split log and putting sticks into auger holes underneath. 
The tables were as simply made, except that they stood on 
four legs instead of three. The crude bedsteads in the cor¬ 
ners of the cabin were made by sticking poles in between 
the logs at right angles to the wall, the outside corner where 
the poles met being supported by a crotched stick driven 
into the ground. Ropes were then stretched from side to 
side, making a framework upon which shucks and leaves 
were heaped for bedding, and over all were thrown the 
skins of wild animals for a covering. Pegs driven into the 
wall served as a stairway to the loft, where there was an¬ 
other bed of leaves. Here little Abe slept. 

Abraham Lincoln’s schooling was brief—not more than 
a year in all, and the schools he attended were like those we 
became acquainted with in the early settlements of Ken¬ 
tucky and Tennessee. During his last school-days he had 
to go daily a distance of four and one-half miles from his 
home, with probably no roadway except the deer path 
through the forest. His midday lunch was a corn dodger, 
which he carried in his pocket. 

In spite of this meagre schooling, however, the boy, by 
his self-reliance, resolute purpose, and good reading habits, 
acquired the very best sort of training for his future life. 
He had no books at his home, and, of course, there were but 


246 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


few to be had in that wild country from other homes. But 
among those he read over and over again, while a boy, were 
the Bible, "iEsop's Fables/' "Robinson Crusoe/' "Pilgrim's 



Lincoln Studying by Firelight. 


Progress," "A History of the United States," and Weems's 
"Life of Washington," all books of the right kind. 

His stepmother said of him: “He read everything he 
could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage 
that struck him, he would write it down on boards, if he 
had no paper, and keep it before him until he could get 
paper. Then he would copy it, look at it, commit it to 
memory, and repeat it." 

When night came he would find a seat in the corner by 










































































THE CIVIL WAR 


247 


the fireside, or stretch out at length on the floor in front 
of it, and by the firelight write, or work sums in arithmetic, 
on a wooden shovel, using a charred stick for a pencil. 
After covering the shovel, he would shave it off and use 
the surface over again. 

The way in which he came to own a “Life of Washing¬ 
ton” is interesting. Having borrowed the book, he took it to 
bed with him in the loft and read until his candle gave out. 
Then, before going to sleep, he tucked the book into a 
crevice of the logs in order that he might have it at hand 
as soon as daylight would permit him to read the next 
morning. But during the night a storm came up, and the 
rain beat in upon the book, wetting it through and through. 
With heavy heart Lincoln took it back to its owner, who 
gave it to him on condition that he would work three days 
to pay for it. Eagerly agreeing to do this, the boy carried 
his new possession home in triumph. This book had a 
marked influence over his future. 

But his time for reading was limited, for until he was 
twenty his father hired him out to do all sorts of work, at 
which he sometimes earned six dollars a month and some¬ 
times thirty-one cents a day. Money was always sorely 
needed in that household, the poor farm yielding only a 
small return for much hard work. For this reason, just be¬ 
fore Abraham Lincoln came of age, his family, with all their 
possessions packed in a cart drawn by four oxen, moved 
again toward the West. For two weeks they travelled across 


248 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


the country into Illinois, and finally made a new home on 
the banks of the Sangamon River. 

On reaching the end of the journey (in the spring of 
1830), Abraham helped to build a log cabin and to clear 
ten acres of land for planting. This was the last work 



he did for his father, as he was now some months over 
twenty-one and was quite ready to go out into the world 
and work for himself. When he left his father’s house he 
had nothing, not even a good suit of clothes, and one of 
the first things he did was to split rails for enough brown 
jeans to make him a pair of trousers. As he was six feet 
four inches tall, three and one-half yards were needed! 

i 

For these he split 1400 rails. 

At times throughout life he was subject to deep depres- 










THE CIVIL WAR 


249 


sion, which made his face unspeakably sad. But as a rule 
he was cheerful and merry, and on account of his good 
stories, which he told with rare skill, he was in great de¬ 
mand in social gatherings and at the crossroads grocery 
store. He was a giant in strength and a skilful wrestler. 
This helped to make him popular. 

For some months after leaving his father’s home Lincoln 
worked in the neighborhood, most of the time as a farm¬ 
hand and rail-splitter. But 
he desired something dif¬ 
ferent. From time to time 
he had watched the boats 
carrying freight up and 
down the river and had 
wondered where the ves¬ 
sels were going. Eager to 
learn about the life outside his narrow world, he de¬ 
termined to become a boatman. As soon as he could, 
therefore, he found employment on a flatboat that carried 
corn, hogs, hay, and other farm produce down to New 
Orleans. 

But tiring at length of the long journeys, he became 
clerk in a village store at New Salem, Illinois. Many sto¬ 
ries are told of Lincoln’s honesty in his dealings with the 
people in this village store. It is said that on one occa¬ 
sion a woman, in making change, overpaid him the trifling 
sum of six cents. When Lincoln found out the mistake he 



Lincoln as a Boatman. 


















250 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


walked three miles and back that night to give the woman 
her money. 

In less than a year the closing of this village store left 
him without employment, and after this he had a varied 
experience, first in a grocery store of his own, next as post¬ 
master in New Salem, and then as a surveyor. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND SLAVERY 

After many trials at various occupations, he decided 
at last to become a lawyer, and after being admitted to 
the bar, he opened an office at Springfield, Illinois. He 
succeeded well in his chosen profession, and also took a 
keen interest in the larger affairs of his community and 
State. 

In this wider field of action certain qualities of mind and 
heart greatly aided him. For, in spite of scant learning, 
he was a good public speaker and skilful debater, because 
he thought clearly and convinced those who heard him of 
his honesty and high purpose. Such a man is certain to 
win his way in the world. In due time he was elected to 
Congress, where his interest in various public questions, 
especially that of slavery, became much quickened. 

On this question his clear head and warm heart united 
in forming strong convictions that had great weight with 
the people. He continued to grow in political favor and, 
in 1858, received the nomination of the Republican party 
for the United States Senate. His opponent was Stephen 


THE CIVIL WAR 


251 


A. Douglas, known as the “ Little Giant/’ on account of 
his short stature and powerful eloquence as an orator. 

The debates between the two men, preceding the elec¬ 
tion, were followed with keen interest all over the country. 
Lincoln argued with great power against the spread of 
slavery into the new States, and although he lost the elec¬ 
tion, he won such favorable notice that two years later a 
greater honor came to him. In 1860, the Republican Na¬ 
tional Convention, which met at Chicago, nominated him 
as its candidate for President, and a few months later he 
was elected to that office. 

The agitation over slavery was growing more and more 
bitter, and when Lincoln was elected some of the Southern 
States threatened to go out of the Union. They claimed 
that it was their right to decide for themselves whether 
they should secede. On the other hand, the North de¬ 
clared that no State could secede without the consent of 
the other States. 

Before Lincoln was inaugurated seven of the Southern 
States had carried out their threat to secede, calling them¬ 
selves the Confederate States of America.* The excite¬ 
ment everywhere was intense. Many people regretted that 
a man of larger experience than Lincoln had not been chosen 
to be at the head of the government. They were anxious 

* 

* Jefferson Davis was chosen president and Alexander H. Stephens vice- 
president. The seven cotton States hoped that they would be joined by the 
other eight slave States, but only four of these eight seceded. Delaware, 
Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri remained loyal to the Union. 


252 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


lest this plain man of the people, this awkward backwoods¬ 
man, should not be able to lead the nation in those dark 
and troubled days. But, little as they trusted him, he was 
well fitted for the work that lay before him. 

His inauguration was but a few weeks over when the 
Civil War began. We cannot here pause for full accounts 
of all Lincoln’s trials and difficulties in this fearful struggle. 
During those four fateful years, 1861-1865, his burdens 
were almost overwhelming. But, like Washington, he be¬ 
lieved that “right makes might” and must prevail, and this 
belief sustained him. 

Although his whole nature revolted against slavery, he 
had no power to do away with it in the States where it 
existed, for by his office he was sworn to defend the Con¬ 
stitution. “My great purpose,” he said, “is to save the 
Union, and not to destroy slavery.” 

But as the war went on he became certain that the 
slaves, by remaining on the plantations and producing food 
for the Southern soldiers, were aiding the Southern cause. 
He therefore determined to set the slaves free in all the 
territory where people were fighting to break up the Union, 
just as far as it was conquered by Union troops. “As com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the Union armies,” he reasoned, “I have 
a right to do this as a war measure.” The famous state 
paper in which Lincoln declared that such slaves were 
free was called the Emancipation Proclamation (January 
1, 1863). 


THE CIVIL WAR 


253 



This freeing of a part of the slaves not only hastened 
the end of the war but led, after its close, to the final emanci¬ 
pation of all the slaves. We should remember that the 
man who did most to 


bring about this result 
was Abraham Lincoln, 
whose name has gone 
down in history as the 
great emancipator. 

Passing over the 
events of the war, which 
we shall consider later 
in connection with its 
great generals, let us 
look ahead two years. 

On April 9, 1865, 

General Lee, as we shall 
see a little later, sur¬ 
rendered his army to 
General Grant at Ap- 

Lincoln Visiting Wounded Soldiers. 

pomattox Court House. 

By this act the war was brought to a close, and there 
was great rejoicing everywhere. 

But suddenly the universal joy was changed into uni¬ 
versal sorrow, for a shocking thing happened. Five days 
after Lee’s surrender, Lincoln went with his wife and friends 
to see a play at Ford’s Theatre, in Washington. In the 











mm. L t 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


midst of the play, a Southern actor, John Wilkes Booth, 
who was familiar with the theatre, entered the President’s 
box, shot him in the back of the head, jumped to the stage, 
and rushed through the wings to the street. There he 
mounted a horse in waiting for him and escaped, soon, how¬ 
ever, to be hunted down and killed in a barn where he lay in 
hiding. 

The martyr President lingered during the long hours of 
the sad night, tenderly watched by his family and a few 
friends. When, on the following morning, he breathed his 
last, Secretary Stanton said with truth: “Now he belongs 
to the ages.” 

The people deeply mourned the loss of him who had 
wisely and bravely led them through four years of heavy 
trial and anxiety. We are all richer because of the life of 

•i. 

Abraham Lincoln, our countryman, our teacher, our guide, 
and our friend. And the loss to the South was even greater 
than to the North. For he was not only just but also 
kind and sympathetic; and only he could have saved the 
South from its calamities for years afterward. 

ROBERT E. LEE 

Having followed a few of the leading events in the re¬ 
markable career of our martyr President, let us turn our 
thoughts to the Civil War, through which it was Lincoln’s 
great work to guide us, as a nation. It was a struggle that 
tested the manhood, quite as much as the resources, of the 
























































































THE CIVIL WAR 


255 


warring sections, and each side might well be proud of the 
bravery and skill of its officers and soldiers. Certainly 
each side had among its generals some of the greatest mili¬ 
tary leaders of all time. 

One of the ablest generals commanding the Confederate 
troops was Robert E. Lee. He was born in Virginia, Jan¬ 
uary 19, 1807, his father being 
the Revolutionary general known 
as “ Light-Horse Harry.” Al¬ 
though the records of his boy¬ 
hood days are scanty, we know 
that when little Robert was about 
four years old the Lees removed 
from Stratford to Alexandria, in 
order to educate their children. 

Here the boy was prepared for 
West Point Academy, which he entered when he was eigh¬ 
teen. At this military school he made such a good record 
as a student that he was graduated second in his class. 

Two years later he married Miss Custis, who was a 
great-granddaughter of Mrs. George Washington, and 
through this marriage he shared with his wife the control 
of large property, which included plantations and a number 
of slaves. 

Immediately after leaving West Point, he entered the 
army as an engineer, and during the Mexican War dis¬ 
tinguished himself for his skill and bravery. A few years 



256 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


later (1852), he was appointed superintendent of West 
Point Academy, where he remained three years. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War he was so highly es¬ 
teemed as an officer in the United States army, that he 
would have been appointed commander of the Union 
armies if he had been willing to accept the position. He 
loved the Union, and was opposed to secession, but when 

Virginia, his native 
State, seceded he 
felt that it was his 
duty to go with her. 

His struggle in 
making the decision 
was a painful one, 
as was made plain 
in a letter he wrote 
to a sister, then 
living in Baltimore. 
“ With all my devotion to the Union/’ he said, “ and the feel¬ 
ing of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not 
been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against 
my relatives, my children, my home. I know you will blame 
me, but you must think as kindly of me as you can, and 
believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought right.” 

Soon after he decided that he must go with Virginia in 
the great struggle which was to follow, he accepted the com¬ 
mand of the Virginia State forces, and within a year from 

















THE CIVIL WaR 


257 


that time became military adviser of Jefferson Davis, who 

was President of the Confederacv. 

•/ 

In 1862, the second year of the war, Lee took command 
of the leading Confederate army in Virginia. General 
McClellan, who commanded a large Union army, had been 
trying to capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederate 
States. After fighting a series of 
battles, he approached so close to 
Richmond that his soldiers could see 
the spires of the churches. But as 
the city was strongly fortified he re¬ 
treated to the James River. During 
this retreat, which lasted a week, 
were fought what were known as 
the “Seven Days’ Battles.” 

Having thus saved Richmond 
from capture, Lee marched north 
into Maryland, expecting the people to rise and join his 
forces. But they were loyal to the Union and refused. 
The terrible battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg was fought 
(September, 1862), and Lee was obliged to retreat to Vir¬ 
ginia. 

A few months later (December, 1862), Lee repulsed an 
attack of the Union army at Fredericksburg with fearful 
slaughter, and in the following May he won a victory at 
Chancellorsville. 



Jefferson Davis. 




258 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


11 STONEWALL ’ ’ JACKSON 



Thomas J. Jackson. 


In all these battles Lee’s most effective helper was 
General Thomas J. Jackson, “Stonewall” Jackson, as he 

was called. Jackson won his nick¬ 
name at the battle of Bull Run. One 
of the Confederate generals, who was 
trying to hearten his retreating men, 
cried out to them: “See, there is 
Jackson, standing like a stone wall! 
Rally round the Virginians!” From 
that hour of heroism he was known 
as Stonewall Jackson, and for his 
bravery in this battle he was made a 
major-general. He was such a stubborn fighter, and so 
furious in his enthusiasm that “his soldiers marched to 
death when he bade them. What was 
even harder, they marched at the double- 
quick through Virginia mud, without 
shoes, without food, without sleep.” They 
cheerfully did his bidding because they If 
loved him. The sight of his old uniform 
and scrawny sorrel horse always stirred 
the hearts of his followers. 

Jackson was a deeply religious man. 

In spirit he was so much of a Puritan that it caused him 
great regret to march or to fight on a Sunday. 



A Confederate Flag. 






THE CIVIL WAR 


259 


He was devoted to Lee and placed the greatest con¬ 
fidence in him. “He is the only man I would follow blind¬ 
fold,” he said, and on his death-bed he exclaimed: “Better 
that ten Jacksons should fall than one Lee!” 

Stonewall Jackson was shot at the battle of Chancellors- 
ville, but not by the enemy. He and his escort had ridden 
out beyond his line of battle, when, being mistaken for the 
enemy, they were fired upon by some of their own soldiers, 
and Jackson was mortally wounded. 

His death was a great loss to the 
Southern army. 

J. E. B. STUART 

Another of General Lee’s very- 
able helpers was General Stuart. 

He wrote his name J. E. B. Stuart. 

So his admirers called him “Jeb.” 

He was absolutely fearless. “ He 
would attack anything anywhere,” and he inspired his 
men with the same zeal. He was noted for falling into 
dangerous situations and then cleverly getting himself out. 
His men were used to this. They trusted him completely 
and without question. They loved him, too, for his good 
comradeship. For although he preserved the strictest dis¬ 
cipline, he frolicked with his officers like a boy, playing at 
snowballs, or marbles, or whatever they chose, and enjoy¬ 
ing it all heartily. 



260 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


He was so fond of gay, martial music that he kept 
his banjo-player, Sweeney, always with him, and worked 
in his tent to the cheerful accompaniment of his favorite 



songs, now and then leaning back to laugh and join in the 
choruses. 

His gay spirit found expression also in the clothes he 
wore. Listen to this description of him: “His fighting 
jacket shone with dazzling buttons and was covered with 
gold braid; his hat was looped up with a golden star and 
decorated with a black ostrich plume; his fine buff gaunt¬ 
lets reached to the elbow; around his waist was tied a 
splendid yellow sash, and his spurs were pure gold.” These 
spurs, of which he was immensely proud, were a gift from 
Baltimore women. His battle-flag was a gorgeous red one, 























THE CIVIL WAR 


261 


which he insisted upon keeping with him, although it often 
drew the enemy’s fire. 

Stuart was very proud of his men and their pluck. He 
knew by name every man in the first brigade. 

It was his strong desire that he might meet his death 
while leading a cavalry charge, and he had his wish. For 
he was struck down near Richmond, in 1864, while he was 
leading an attack against Sheridan. 

He died when he was only thirty-one, deeply mourned 
by all his men. 


GETTYSBURG 

But to return to General Lee. After winning the two 
important battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, 
he decided that he would again invade the North (1863). 
He believed that a great victory north of the Potomac River 
might lead to the capture of Philadelphia and AVashington 
and thus end the war. 

Having marched boldly into Pennsylvania, he met the 
Union army, under General Meade, at the little town of 
Gettysburg, not far from the southern border of the State. 
There for three days the most terrible battle of the war, and 
in its results, one of the greatest battles of all history, took 
place. After three days of fighting, in which the loss on 
both sides was fearful, Lee was defeated and forced to 
retreat to Virginia. 

The defeat of Lee’s army at Gettysburg was a crushing 


262 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



blow to the hopes of the South. Lee himself felt this to 
be true. And, grieving over the heavy loss of his men in 
the famous Pickett’s Charge, he said to one of his generals: 
“All this has been my fault. It is I that have lost this 

fight, and you must 
help me out of it the 
best you can.” 

But even in the 
face of this defeat his 
officers and soldiers 
still trusted their 
commander. They 
said: “Uncle Robert 
will get us into Wash¬ 
ington yet.” 

But the surrender 
of another division of 
the army, fighting 
far away on the Mississippi River, added defeat to defeat. 
For the day following the battle of Gettysburg, General 
Grant captured Vicksburg, the greatest Confederate strong¬ 
hold on the Mississippi River. The South could no longer 
hope for victory. 


Union Soldiers. 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 

Before going on with the story of the war, let us pause 
for a little in order to catch a glimpse of Ulysses S. Grant, 











THE CIVIL WAR 


263 


£ 

the remarkable man who was the greatest general that the 
North produced throughout the war. 

He was born in a humble dwelling at Point Pleasant, 
Ohio, in April, 1822. The year following his birth the 
family removed to Georgetown, Ohio, where they lived 
many years. 

The father of Ulysses was a farmer and manufacturer 
of leather. The boy did not like the leather business, but 
he did like work on the farm. When 
only seven years old, he hauled all 
the wood which was needed in the 
home and at the leather factory 
from the forest, a mile from the 
village. 

From the age of eleven to seven¬ 
teen, according to his own story as 
told in his “Personal Memoirs,” he 
ploughed the soil, cultivated the 
growing corn and potatoes, sawed fire-wood, and did any 
other work a farmer boy might be expected to do. He 
had his good times also, fishing, swimming in the creek. 
not far from his home, driving about the country, and 
skating with other boys. 

He liked horses, and early became a skilful rider. A 
story is told of him which indicates not only that he was 
a good horseman, but that he had “bulldog grit” as well. 
One day when he was at a circus, the manager offered a 



Ulysses S. Grant. 


264 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


silver dollar to any one who could ride a certain mule 
around the ring. Several persons, one after the other, 
mounted the animal, only to be thrown over its head. 
Young Ulysses was among those who offered to ride, but, 
like the others, he failed. Then, pulling off his coat, he got 
on the animal again. Putting his legs firmly around the 

mule’s body and 
seizing it by the 
tail, Ulysses rode in 
triumph around the 
ring amid the cheers 
of the crowd. 

Although he 
cared little for 
study, his father 
wished to give him 
all the advantages of a good education and secured for 
him an appointment to West Point. After graduating, 
he wished to leave the army and become an instructor in 
mathematics at his alma mater. But, as the Mexican War 
broke out about that time, he entered active service. Soon 
he gave striking evidence of that fearless bravery for which 
he was later to become noted on the battle-fields of the 
Civil War. 

At the close of the Mexican War, Grant resigned from 
the army and engaged in farming and business until the 
outbreak of the Civil War. 










THE CIVIL WAR 


265 


With the news that the Southern troops had fired on 
the flag at Fort Sumter, Grant’s patriotism was aroused. 
Without delay he rejoined the army and at once took an 
active part in getting ready for the war. First as colonel, 
and then as brigadier-general, he led his troops, and his 
powers as a leader quickly developed. 

The first of his achievements was the capture of Forts 
Henry and Donelson, in Tennessee, the centre of a strong 
Confederate line of defense. At Fort Donelson he received 
the surrender of nearly fifteen thousand prisoners, and by 
his great victory compelled the Confederates to abandon two 
of their important strongholds, Columbus and Nashville. 

After the loss of Fort Donelson the Confederates fell 
back to a second line of defense and took position at Cor¬ 
inth. General Grant’s army was at Pittsburg Landing, 
eighteen miles away; not far off was the village of Shiloh, 
from which the battle is now generally named. Here, early 
on Sunday morning (April 6, 1862), Grant was attacked 
by Johnston, and his men were driven back a mile and a 
half toward the river. 

It was a fearful battle, lasting until nearly dark. Not 
until after midnight was Grant able to rest, and then, sit¬ 
ting in the rain, with his back against the foot of a tree, 
he slept a few hours before the renewal of battle on Mon¬ 
day morning. With reinforcements he was able on the 
second day to drive the enemy off the field and win a signal 
victory. 


266 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


By this battle Grant broke the Confederates 7 second 
line of defense. Although they fought bravely and well to 
prevent the Union troops from getting control of the Missis¬ 
sippi River, by the close of 1862 the South had lost every 

stronghold on the river 
except Port Hudson 
and Vicksburg. 

Vicksburg was so 
strongly defended that 
the Confederates be¬ 
lieved that it could not 
be taken. A resolute 
effort to capture it was 
made by General Grant 
in 1863. After a bril¬ 
liant campaign of strat¬ 
egy, by which he got 
around the defenses, he 
laid siege to the city 
itself. For seven weeks 
the Confederate army 
held out. During that 
time the people of Vicksburg sought refuge from the enemy’s 
shells in caves and cellars, their only food at times consist¬ 
ing of rats and mule flesh. But on July 4, 1863, the day 
after General Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg, Vicksburg sur¬ 
rendered to General Grant. Four days later Port Hudson, 











THE CIVIL WAR 


267 


some distance below, was captured, and thus the last 
stronghold of the Mississippi came under control of the 
North. 

General Grant had become the hero of the Northern 
army. His success was in no small measure due to his 
dogged perseverance. While his army was laying siege to 
Vicksburg, a Confederate woman, at whose door he stopped 
to ask for a drink of water, inquired whether he expected 
ever to capture Vicksburg. “Certainly,” he replied. “But 
when?” was the next question. Quickly came the answer: 
“I cannot tell exactly when I shall take the town, but I 
mean to stay here till I do, if it takes me thirty years.” 

General Grant having by his capture of-Vicksburg won 
the confidence of the people, President Lincoln, in 1864, 
put him in command of all the Union armies of the East 
and the West. In presenting the new commission, Lincoln 
addressed him in these words: “As the country herein 
trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you.” 

WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN 

In the spring of that year the Confederates had two 
large armies in the field. One of them, under General Lee, 
was defending Richmond. The other, under General Joseph 
E. Johnston, was in Tennessee, defending the Confederate 
cause in that region. General Grant’s plan was to send 
General Sherman, in whom he had great confidence, against 
General Johnston, with orders to capture Atlanta, which 


268 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


was now the workshop and storehouse of the Confederacy. 
Grant himself was to march against Lee and capture Rich¬ 
mond. The two great watchwords were: “On to Atlanta!” 
and “On to Richmond!” 

Early in May both Grant and Sherman began their 
campaigns. Starting from Chattanooga, in Tennessee, Sher¬ 
man began to crowd Johnston to¬ 
ward Atlanta. In order to keep his 
line of supplies open from Nashville 
Sherman kept his army close to the 
railroad, and to hinder him as much 



William Tecumseh Sherman. 


as possible, the Confederates sent 
7 back bodies of troops to the rear of 
the Union army to tear up the rail¬ 
roads. But so quickly were they 
rebuilt by Sherman’s men that the 
Confederates used to say: “Sherman must carry a railroad 
on his back.” His advance was slow but steady, and on 
September 2 he captured Atlanta. 

A little later Sherman started on his famous march 
“From Atlanta to the Sea,” with the purpose of weakening 
the Confederate armies by destroying their supplies and 
their railroads in Southern Georgia. His army marched in 
four columns, covering a belt of territory sixty miles wide. 
Four days before Christmas he captured Savannah and sent 
to President Lincoln the famous telegram: “I beg to pre¬ 
sent you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 










THE CIVIL WAR 


269 


one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition; 
also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.” Sher¬ 
man s “ March to the Sea” was a wonderful achievement. 

Let us make the acquaintance of this remarkable man. ) 
He was at this time forty-four. Standing six feet high, 



Sherman’s March to the Sea. 


with muscles of iron and a military bearing, he gave the 
impression of having great physical endurance. And no 
matter whether he was exposed to drenching rain, bitter 
cold, or burning heat, he never gave signs of fatigue. Many 
nights he slept only three or four hours, but he was able 
to fall asleep easily almost anywhere he happened to be, 
whether lying upon the wet ground or on a hard floor, or 
even amid the din and roar of muskets and cannon. 

In battle he could not sit calmly smoking and looking 






















270 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


on, like General Grant. He was too much excited to sit 
still, and his face reflected his thoughts. Yet his mind was 
clear and his decisions were rapid. 

His soldiers admired him and gave him their unbounded 
confidence. One of his staff said of him while they were 
on the “March to the Sea”: “The army has such an abiding 



faith in its leader that it will go wherever he leads.” At 
Savannah the soldiers would proudly remark as their general 
rode by: “There goes the old man. All’s right.” 

During the trying experience of this famous march, 
Sherman’s face grew anxious and care-worn. But behind 
the care-worn face there were kind and tender feelings, 
especially for the young. Little children would show their 
trust in him by clasping him about his knees or by nestling 
in his arms. While he was in Savannah, large groups of 







































THE CIVIL WAR 


271 


children made a playground of the general’s headquarters 
and private room, the doors of which were never closed 
to them. 

While General Sherman, in Georgia, was pushing his 
army a 0n to Atlanta” and a 0n to the Sea,” Grant was 
trying to defeat Lee and capture Richmond. With these 
aims in view, Grant crossed the Rapidan River and entered 
the wilderness in direct line for Richmond. Here fighting 
was stern business. The woods were so gloomy and the 
underbrush was so thick that the men could not see one 
another twenty feet away. 

Lee’s army furiously contested every foot of the advance. 
In the terrible battles that followed Grant lost heavily, 
but he pressed doggedly on, writing to President Lincoln 
his stubborn resolve: “I propose to fight it. out on this line 
if it takes all summer.” 

It did take all summer and longer. Moreover, Grant 
found that he could not possibly capture Richmond from 
the north. So he crossed the James River and attacked 
the city from the south. Yet when autumn ended Lee was 
still holding out, and Grant’s army settled down for the 
winter. 


PHILIP H. SHERIDAN 

At this time one of Grant’s most skilful generals and 
ablest helpers was Philip H. Sheridan, who was a brilliant 
cavalry leader. As a boy he had a strong liking for books, 


272 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


and especially those which told of war and the lives of 
daring men. When he read of their brave deeds perhaps 
he dreamed of the days when he might be a great soldier. 

At the time when he came into most prominent notice 
—in the summer and autumn of 1864—he was only thirty- 
three vears old. He was short, and as he weighed but one 

hundred and fifteen pounds, he was 
not at all impressive in appear¬ 
ance, except in the heat of battle, 
when his personality was com¬ 
manding and inspiring. 

No matter how trying the situ¬ 
ation might be, he never lost self- 
control and was always kind and 
friendly toward those working with 
Philip h. Sheridan. him. But perhaps his finest quality 

was a stern devotion to duty. He said, in effect: “In all 
the various positions I have held, my sole aim has ever 
been to be the best officer I could and let the future take 
care of itself/ 7 Such a man, whether civilian or soldier, is 
a true patriot. 

It was early in August, 1864, that General Grant placed 
Sheridan in command of the Union army in the Shenan¬ 
doah valley, with orders to drive the enemy out and destroy 
their food supplies. 

Sheridan entered the valley from the north, destroyed 
large quantities of supplies, and after some fighting went 





THE CIVIL WAR 


273 



into camp on the north side of Cedar Creek, in October. 
A few days later he was called to Washington. Returning 
on the eighteenth, he stayed overnight at Winchester, about 
fourteen miles from 
Cedar Creek. 

About six o’clock 
the next morning, a 
picket on duty re¬ 
ported to him be¬ 
fore he was up that 
cannon were being 
fired in the direc¬ 
tion of Cedar Creek. 

At first Sheridan 
paid little attention. 

^ Sheridan Rallying His Troops. 

Then he began to 

be disturbed. He writes: “I tried to go to sleep again, 
but grew so restless that I could not and soon got up and 
dressed myself.” Eating a hurried breakfast, he mounted 
his splendid coal-black steed, Rienzi, and started for the 
battle-field of Cedar Creek, where his army was. This was 
the ride that afterward became famous as “ Sheridan’s Ride.” 

As he rode forward he could hear the booming of can¬ 
non. Then he saw a part of his army in full retreat, and 
fugitives told him that a battle had been fought against 
General Early’s Confederates and everything lost. 

With two aides and twenty men the gallant Sheridan 












274 


LaTER AMERICAN HISTORY 


dashed forward to the front as fast as his foaming steed 
could carry him. On meeting a retreating officer who said, 
“The army is whipped,” Sheridan replied: “You are, but 
the army isn’t.” 

As he pushed ahead he said to his soldiers: “If I had 
been with you this morning this disaster would not have 
happened. We must face the other way. We must go 
back and recover our camp.” 

As soon as his troops caught sight of “Little Phil,” as 
they liked to call him, they threw their hats into the air 
and, with enthusiastic cheers, shouldered their muskets and 
faced about. Sheridan brought order out of confusion 
and in the battle that followed drove Early’s army from the 
field in utter rout. 

Great was the rejoicing in the North over this victory, 
and Sheridan himself was raised to the rank of major- 
general. 

This victory was largely due to Sheridan’s magnetic 
influence over his men. The following incident illustrates 
this remarkable power of “Little Phil”: At the battle of 
Five Forks, which took place near Richmond the next 
spring (1865), a wounded soldier in the line of battle near 
Sheridan stumbled and was falling behind his regiment. 
But when Sheridan cried out, “Never mind, my man; 
there’s no harm done!” the soldier, although with a bul¬ 
let in his brain, went forward with his fighting comrades 
till he fell dead. 


THE CIVIL WAR 


275 


TWO GREAT GENERALS 

Let us now return to Grant. After remaining near 
Petersburg all winter, in the spring of 1865 he pressed so 
hard upon the Confederate army that Lee had to leave 
Richmond and move rapidly westward in order to escape 
capture. For a week Grant closely followed Lee’s troops, 
who were almost starving; all they had to eat was parched 
corn and green shoots of trees, and the outlook was so dark 
that many had deserted 
and started for home. 

There was but one thing 
left for Lee to do. That 
was to give up the struggle, 
for he knew the Southern 
cause was hopeless. An 

interview, therefoie, was The McLean House, Where Lee 

Surrendered. 

arranged with Grant, it 

was held on Sunday morning, April 9, in a house standing 
in the little village of Appomattox Court House. 

Grant writes in his “Personal Memoirs”: “I was with¬ 
out a sword, as I usually was when on horse-back on the 
field, and wore a soldier’s blouse for a coat, with the 
shoulder-straps of my rank to indicate to the army 
who I was. . . . General Lee was dressed in a full uni¬ 
form, which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword 
of considerable value—very likely the sword which had 












276 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


been presented by the State of Virginia. ... In my 
rough travelling suit, the uniform of a private with the 
straps of a lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very 



strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet tall, 
and of faultless form.” 

The result of the interview was the surrender of General 
Lee and his army. When this took place General Grant 
showed clearly his great kindness of heart and his delicate 
feeling. He issued orders that all the Confederates who 
owned horses and mules should be allowed to take them 
home. “They will need them for the spring ploughing,” 












THE CIVIL WAR 


277 


he said. He also had abundant food at once sent to the 
hungry Confederate soldiers. Never did General Grant ap¬ 
pear more truly great than on the occasion of Lee’s surrender. 

He was indeed a remarkable man in many ways. While 
in the army he seemed to have wonderful powers of endur¬ 
ance. He said of himself: “Whether I slept on the ground 
or in a tent, whether I slept one hour or ten in the twenty- 
four, whether I had one meal or three, or none, made no 
difference. I would lie down and sleep in the rain without 
caring.” This, as you remember, he did at Pittsburg 
Landing. 

Yet his appearance did not indicate robust health. He 
was only five feet eight inches tall, round-shouldered, and 
not at all military in bearing or walk. But his brown hair, 
blue eyes, and musical voice gave a pleasing impression. 
He was of a sunny disposition and of singularly pure mind. 
Never in his life was he known to speak an unclean word 
or tell an objectionable story. In manner he was quiet and 
simple, and yet he was always ready for the severest ordeal 
he might have to face. 

While the two great commanders, Grant and Lee, were 
much unlike in personal appearance, they had certain qual¬ 
ities in common, for they were both simple-hearted and 
frank and men of deep and tender feelings. 

April 9 was a sad day for General Lee. As he stepped 
out of the door of the house where the terms of surrender 
had been agreed upon and stood in silence, waiting for his 


278 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


horse to be brought to him ; he clasped his hands together 
as if in deep pain and looked far away into the distance. 
Then, mounting his steed, he rode back to the Confederate 
camp, where his officers and men awaited his coming. 

On his approach they 
crowded about their be¬ 
loved chief in their 
eagerness to touch him, 
or even his horse. Look¬ 
ing upon his veteran 
soldiers for the last time, 
Lee said, with saddened 
voice: “We have fought 
through the war to¬ 
gether; I have done the 
best I could for you. My heart is too full to say more.” 
Then he silently rode off to his tent. 

These simple, heartfelt words to his “children,” as he 
called his soldiers, were like the man who spoke them. 
For during the entire war he was always simple in his habits. 
Rarely did he leave his tent to sleep in a house, and often 
his diet consisted of salted cabbage only. He thought it 
a luxury to have sweet potatoes and buttermilk. 

The gentleness and kindness of General Lee was seen 
also in his fondness for animals. When the war was over 
his iron-gray horse, Traveller, which had been his faithful 
companion throughout the struggle, was very dear to him. 



General Lee on His Horse, Traveller. 




THE CIVIL WAR 


279 


Often, when entering the gate on returning to his house, 
he would turn aside to stroke the noble creature, and often 
the two wandered forth into the mountains, companions to 
the last. 

Within a year after the close of the war General Lee 
was elected President of Washington College, at Lexing¬ 
ton, Virginia—now called Washington and Lee University. 
There he remained until his death, in 1870. His country¬ 
men, in all sections of the Union, think of him as a dis¬ 
tinguished general and a high-minded gentleman. 

Three years after the close of the war (1868) General 
Grant was elected President of the United States and 
served two terms. Upon retiring from the presidency, he 
made a tour around the world, a more unusual thing in 
those days than now. He was everywhere received, by 
rulers and people alike, with marked honor and distinction. 

His last days were full of suffering from an illness which 
proved a worse enemy than ever he had found on the field 
of battle. After nine months of brave struggle, he died on 
July 23, 1885. Undoubtedly he was one of the ablest 
generals of history. 

The war, in which these two distinguished commanders 
had led opposing sides, had cost the nation not only thou¬ 
sands of men, the vast majority in the prime of their young 
manhood, but millions of dollars. But it had two striking 
results: it preserved the Union, for it was now clear that 
no State could secede at will; and it put an end to slavery. 


280 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


The Emancipation Proclamation had set free only those 
slaves in the States and parts of States which were under 
the control of Union armies; but after the war the Thir¬ 
teenth Amendment set free all the slaves in all the States 
in the Union for all time. These were the benefits pur¬ 
chased by the terrible sacrifice of life. 

If we count those who were slain on the field of battle 
and those who died from wounds, disease, and suffering in 
wretched prisons, the loss of men was equal to seven hun¬ 
dred a day during the four long years of the war. 

When it was over, a wave of intense relief swept over 
the country. In many homes were glad reunions; in others, 
saddened memories. But at least a united nation was 
cause for a new hope, and a patriotism which in time was 
to bind all sections into closer union. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell what you can about Lincoln’s early life. What kind of boy 

was he ? 

2. What was the Emancipation Proclamation? Why did not Lin¬ 

coln set the slaves free when he became President? What 
do you admire about him? 

3. Why did Lee go with Virginia when this State seceded ? 

4. Tell as much as you can about I>ee, Jackson, Stuart, Sherman, 

and Sheridan. 

5. What kind of boy was Grant? What kind of man? What do 

you admire about him ? 

6. What were some of the important results of the Civil War? 

7. When did this war begin, and when did it end ? 

8. Are you locating every event upon the map? 


CHAPTER XVII 

LEADERS IN THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 

I 

CLARENCE KING, A YOUNG GEOLOGIST, UNDERTAKES AN 
IMPORTANT SURVEY IN THIS VAST REGION 

At the close of the Civil War the larger part of our 
country lying west of the Mississippi River was still un¬ 
settled. Beyond the borders of the older States of Iowa, 
Missouri, Arkansas, and the more thickly settled parts of 
Minnesota and Texas, there were not more than 1,500,000 
people. Much of that vast expanse of territory, comprising 
nearly two-thirds of our whole country, was inhabited only 
by roving tribes of Indians. 

Examine your map; count the States that have been 
admitted to the Union since 1865; and add together their 
populations. Note how many million people there are now 
in that same area, and ask yourself how in sixty years the 
great change came about. What was it that drew so many 
settlers from their old homes to build new ones in these 
distant plains, amid untrod valleys and mountains? 

You will find the answer in the treasure which had long 

remained buried in the earth and had only recently been 

281 


282 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


discovered. Like a magnet, it drew, first prospectors and 
miners, and then settlers, in ever-increasing numbers. 

Among the earliest prospecting engineers was Clarence 
King, who took the trail in the spring of 1863, soon after 
graduating from Yale College. He had varied experiences 
on horseback and on foot, roughing it with the miners and 
sharing the perils of the plains. After a short stop at Vir¬ 
ginia City, he crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and 
made his way to Sacramento, where he took passage on a 
river steamer to San Francisco. 

There a United States geological survey of California 
had already begun, and King was appointed an assistant 
geologist, beginning his work in September, 1863. 

While exploring the Sierra Nevada Mountains he planned 
a much larger project. It was to induce Congress to 
authorize a geological survey that would cross the Rocky 
Moimtains and extend to the shores of the Pacific. 

Its purpose was to find out what kind of minerals were 
locked up in the mountains, for King believed that, if the 
mines proved to be of great value, they would attract 
miners and settlers, just as the gold in California had done 
some years earlier. 

In March, 1867, Congress passed a law authorizing the 
Secretary of War to direct a geological exploration of the 
territory between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada Moun¬ 
tains. A report was to be made on all the resources of the 
region—animal, vegetable, and mineral. 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 283 

Clarence King was appointed geologist in charge. His 
task was heavy, but in fulfilling it he helped to open up the 
Far West for immediate settlement. He stands as a type 
of many eager, hard-working, and hopeful engineers who 
braved all the hardships of pioneer life in laying open the 
secrets of the mountains. Their services were of immense 
value to the country, for during the next thirty years de¬ 
velopment was amazing. 

II 

THE MINER, LURED BY GOLD, ENDURES EVERY HARDSHIP 

While engineers were making scientific records of their dis¬ 
coveries, hundreds of other men, unheard of in the world of 
science, were plying pick-axe and shovel to unearth the hard 
metals. These men were not geologists; nor were they work¬ 
ing under the government; they were prospectors and min¬ 
ers. Yet while only hunting for gold, they were serving their 
country, for they were causing people to think about the 
mountain regions; and this led to the planting of settlements. 

Life was hard for those who went first, whether miners 
or settlers, but the memory of gold in California and the 
reports of rich deposits in the new fields lured them on. 

Many small bands of men went on foot into the moun¬ 
tain valleys, where they built frail huts and rough camps 
along the rivulets running down the mountainsides. From 
early morning till nightfall they toiled, eating and sleeping 
within reach of prowling bears and wolves. They suffered, 


284 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


too, from savage attacks of Indians and from threatened 
famine. Yet camps grew up rapidly and then as rapidly 
disappeared. For, although some met with success, by far 



Prospectors on Their Way West. 


the greater number, after weeks and even months of fruit¬ 
less labor, gave up in sadness and disappointment. 

Few of these bold prospectors are known to history, for 
they only blazed the way where countless numbers of home¬ 
makers followed; but we may well remember them for their 
patience and courage. 

As early as the fifties adventurous pioneers were push¬ 
ing into the mountains, all the way from Washington on 
the north to New Mexico and Arizona on the south. At 
Pike’s Peak gold was found in the fall of 1858, and before 
the summer of 1859 nearly 100,000 were on their way to 
the diggings. 










THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


285 


NEW CAMPS GROW UP LIKE MUSHROOMS 

A far greater boom came when a rich vein of silver was 
found at Gold Hill, in what is now Nevada. It was in the 
Sierra Nevada range and was called the Comstock Lode. 
From all directions men swarmed in thousands by stage 
and on foot to the new diggings. Clarence King stopped 
here on his trail to California. 

For fifteen years after the discovery of gold in California 
bands of hardy and fearless pioneers had continued to dis¬ 
cover new mines in hundreds of places throughout the Rocky 
Mountain region. When the new digging was successful, 
a mining-camp grew up near it. Generally this was only 
a single street along the bank of a winding stream, with 
irregular rows of one-story huts on either side. 

While in the early sixties there were many mines scat¬ 
tered throughout the mountain region, there was not a per¬ 
manent population, for there were no farms to raise food, 
the climate not being suited for agriculture. The rainfall was 
so slight that much of the land was half desert, and crops 
could be raised only by the aid of irrigation. 

Ill 

BUILDERS OF THE PACIFIC RAILROADS DARE MUCH TO 

REALIZE A GREAT DREAM 

A step connecting the East with the Far West was 
taken bv Congress in 1862 when it authorized the building 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


of a Pacific railroad. It was to begin at Omaha, Nebraska, 
and extend to San Francisco, on the Pacific coast. 

Two companies took up the enterprise. In 1863 the 
Central Pacific Company, of California, began building at 
the western end, and two years later the Union Pacific 
started to build from the east. 

The progress of the Central Pacific for a time was slow, 

during the first three years advancing eastward only twenty 

% 

miles a year. There were several reasons for this. It was 
not easy to get iron rails, which had to be brought by way 
of Panama or Cape Horn; much of the western end of the 
line passed over mountains, adding to the difficulty of build¬ 
ing; and as California was a new country there was a scar¬ 
city of labor. Not until 1865, when Chinese coolies were 
imported, was the work of building speeded up. 

Soon after the construction of the Union Pacific was 
begun the railroad from the East reached Council Bluffs, 
and all the building material, including iron, stone, and 
wood, was brought by rail. The actual work of build¬ 
ing was easy, too, for since the route largely followed the 
Oregon trail across the level country of the Great Plains, 
little had to be done to make the road-bed ready for the 
rails. 

On May 10 the last two rails were fastened by a spike of 
gold driven into a tie of California laurel. The event was 
a national one. It was celebrated in many cities and towns 
throughout the country. 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 287 

The East was joined to the West with bands never to 
be broken, and the journey from the Mississippi to the 



Driving the Last Spike of the Union Pacific—Promontory Point, Utah, 

May 10, 1869. 


Pacific coast, which had taken twenty-two or twenty-three 
days to make by stage-coach, could now be made in a 
few days by easy and comfortable means of travel. The 










288 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


transcontinental railroad marked the beginning of a new 
era in the life of the nation. 

JAMES J. HILL, BUILDER OF THE GREAT NORTHERN RAIL¬ 
WAY, IS A MAN OF KEEN VISION AND IDEALS 

Within fifteen years other trans-Mississippi railroads 
were built, including the Southern Pacific and the Northern 
Pacific, the latter being completed in 1883. Ten years 
later still another was finished by a man who takes high 
rank among our American leaders. This was James J. 
Hill, who built the Great Northern. It is well worth while 
for you to make his acquaintance. 

He was born on a farm in western Ontario, in 1838. 
As a boy he went to a country school, but was so eager to 
learn that he read and studied at home, just as Lincoln 
did, such books as the Bible, Shakespeare, Burns, and a dic¬ 
tionary. Later he went to a good academy and had for a 
teacher a large-minded Quaker, who not only inspired him 
with noble ideals but gave him a love of great literature, 
which he never lost. Throughout his life books were his 
great friends. 

When a boy of eighteen he had such a strong desire to 
see the Far East, that he started to work his way there. 
Running short of funds, he took a place for a few months 
as shipping-clerk for a down-river steamer line at St. Paul, 
then a small frontier town. This was no mere office job. 
He had to oversee all outgoing and incoming freight, and 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


289 


often to handle it in person. He had to push hard for 
new business as well as learn and manage all parts of a 
varied commerce. 

Both his heart and his brain went into the work, and 
for nine years he made no outward change in his life, but 
his experience was making him one of the most thorough 
masters of all time of frontier trade and transportation. 

In 1865, when he was twenty- 
seven, he went into business for 
himself, as forwarder and general 
contractor, and soon became chief 
agent for all the best packet lines. 

In 1878, in company with three 
other men, he got control of the St. 

Paul and Pacific Railroad, then run¬ 
ning not far to the west from the 
Mississippi. Through his enterprise 
it was extended, and the new line, connecting St. Paul 
and Lake Superior with Seattle and the Pacific coast, was 
called the Great Northern. It was completed in 1893. 
Then branch roads were built to the north and the south at 
various points along the main route, and a steamship-line 
was established to China and Japan. 

The Great Northern led to the rapid settlement of Min- 
nesota and the Dakotas; it also greatly aided the building 
up of Oregon and Washington as well as the entire Pacific 
slope. 







290 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Hill contributed much to the settlement of the North¬ 
west; not only by his railroads but also as a pioneer in en¬ 
couraging better farming; better breeds of stock; and better 
seeds. He established model farms ; for by that time it had 
been found that the wealth of the great Northwest was not 
so much in its mines as in its fertile soil. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What States have been admitted to the Union since the close of the 

Civil War, and what is their population now? 

2. Explain the reason for this wonderful increase in population. 

3. Who was Clarence King, and what important work did he do? 

4. How did the miners serve their country? 

5. Tell what you can about their hardships. 

6. Are you making good use of the map? 

7. Between what two cities did the first Pacific railroad extend? What 

part was built by the Central Pacific Company and what part by 
the Union Pacific Company? 

8. What advantages did the Pacific railroads have over the stage-coach? 

9. How did the work of James J. Hill help the people of the Northwest? 

10. What do you admire about him? 


CHAPTER XVIII 


LEADERS AND WORKERS IN THE GREAT WEST 

I 

THE COWBOY IS THE PICTURESQUE FIGURE AMONG THE 

% 

SHEEP AND CATTLE RANCHERS 

Some years before the railroad brought the full tide of 
migration to the West, the plains supported roving millions 
of cattle and sheep. Those were the days of the dashing 
cowboys, with their broad-brimmed hats and bright-colored 
handkerchiefs tied loosely about the neck. Many of the 
cowboys and the ranchmen were men who had first tried 
their luck at gold-digging without success. Later other 
men joined them from the East, attracted by the wild, free 
life of the plains. 

As you will learn in your study of geography, a wide 
belt, stretching westward from about the one hundredth 
meridian to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, is arid 
land—that is, the rainfall is very light. It includes parts 
of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. 

Although these dry plains will not produce corn or 

wheat without irrigation, they have a sufficient growth of 

291 



292 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


grass to feed millions of cattle and sheep. At first the 
ranchman lived on a small ranch, sometimes only forty 
acres in area, while his herds grazed on enormous stretches 
of public land with the herds of other ranchmen. 



A Cowpuncher Breaking in a Mustang. 


Between 1885 and 1890 a great change came in the cattle 
industry, caused by a boom in Western land. Many men 
in the East and the Middle West applied to the government 
for 160-acre farms, in accordance with an act passed by 
Congress some years before; and thousands determined to 
“go West,” hoping to better their conditions of living. 

Some of the farms were on land that could be irrigated. 
But even the land that could not be irrigated would pro¬ 
duce alfalfa and Kaffir-corn, which needed less moisture than 






LEADERS IN THE GREAT WEST 


293 


wheat or corn. It would also produce the usual crops by 
improved methods of cultivation. 

The free public land disappeared. The ranchman now 
had to own or lease the land upon which his cattle grazed, 
and the free public range gave place to .the individual 
owner’s ranch. 

On a well-equipped modern ranch to-day stands the 
home of the owner, which has all modern improvements. It 
is usually built on the banks of a stream or in a grove of 
trees, with barns, sheds, and corral near by. In summer 
the cattle graze in fields, which are enclosed by a barbed- 
wire fence, while the owner with his helpers cultivates crops 
of hay, alfalfa, and possibly wheat or corn on other parts 
of the ranch. 

A good ranch equipment must include harvesting- 
machines, work-horses, and saddle-horses, and also automo¬ 
biles for service and for pleasure. 

It is evident that the round-up of earlier days, when 
the herds grazed in common on the public land, is no 
longer necessary; and railroads are so numerous that the 
drive of perhaps 300 or 400 miles to the shipping-station 
is now unknown. It is evident also that the picturesque 
cowboy no longer finds a place in the ranch life of the 
plains. His ever}--day work is that of a farmer. 

But while the cowboy has disappeared, cattle-raising is 
still one of the great industries of the country. In 1922 
there were more than 67,000,000 cattle in the United States. 


294 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


JOHN WESLEY POWELL ENCOURAGES IRRIGATION IN THE 

FAR WEST 



If you had gone to school in any year between 1850 and 

1860, you would have been told that the land stretching 

west from the great 

bend of the Missouri 

River to the Rockv 

•/ 

Mountains was called 
the “ Great American 
Desert/' for this vast 
area was thought to be 
too arid to support a 
farming population. 
Now we know that it 
was so only in name. 
People believed it to 
exist because they did 
not know the facts. 

For our first true 
knowledge of the re¬ 
gion we are indebted to John Wesley Powell, who was a 
soldier as well as a man of science. He had been an en¬ 
thusiastic explorer of the West, and succeeded Clarence 
King as director of the United States Geological Survey. 
In his report of 1879 he recorded facts of wonderful value. 


(C) E-wing’ Gallo-way, 

Cactus in the Arizona Desert, Now a Fertile 
Country Through Irrigation. 












LEADERS IN THE GREAT WEST 


295 


He had learned from his own observation that there were 
vast plains and valleys in the Rockies, covered with cactus 
and sage-brush, that needed only water to make them 



A High-Line Canal or Flume—Part, of the Yakima Project, Washington. 

richly productive. He represented that, if these countless 
acres of arid lands were irrigated freely, they would be fertile 
and thus provide prosperous homes for millions of American 
citizens. 

Enterprising men took up the suggestion and began to 
develop irrigation projects. There were different ways of 
irrigating. Sometimes water would be diverted from rivers 
and made to run in canals and ditches through the fields 
of fruit-trees or growing crops. In other cases reservoirs 










296 LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 

might be built to hold back the water that came from melt¬ 
ing snows on the tops and sides of the mountains. By 
means of flumes, canals, and ditches, the water could be 


Roosevelt Dam. Salt River Valley, Arizona. 

distributed to land at great distances. Thus what was once 
a wild waste could be made to bear abundant harvests. 

In order to stimulate the development of irrigation proj¬ 
ects the Carey Act was passed in 1894. In this act Con¬ 
gress offered any State in the arid region 1,000,000 acres of 
public land if it would reclaim and settle it. Some States 
accepted the offer and gave private companies the rights 
to irrigate the land and sell it to settlers. 

But the task was too large for either private or State 
















LEADERS IN THE GREAT WEST 297 


enterprise, and in 1902 Congress passed the Reclamation 
Act. It provided that 95 per cent of all the money received 
from the sale of public lands should be used in developing 



Land Irrigated by the Roosevelt Dam—Furrow Irrigation in an Orange Grove 

in the Salt River Valley Country. 


new irrigation projects in various parts of the arid region. 
These projects now include the Roosevelt Dam, on the Salt 
River, in Arizona; the Arrow Rock Dam and Twin Falls 
Project, in Idaho; the Huntley, Milk River, and Sun River 
projects, in Montana; the Shoshone Dam, in Wyoming; and 
the Gunnison Project, in Colorado. 

Many hundred million acres of land have in this way 
been made highly productive. To-day thousands of pros- 







298 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


perous farming communities and hundreds of beautiful 
villages and towns exist, where twenty-five years ago only 
sage-brush and the cactus were growing. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Can you explain why the dry plains were used by ranchmen to feed 

cattle and sheep instead of by farmers to raise grain? 

2. Why did the free public land disappear, and what effect did this have 

upon the work of the ranchman? 

3. Tell alNyou can about a modern ranch and the work that is done 

there. 

4. What were the eastern and western boundaries of the immense area 

of land which was for a long time called “The Great American 
Desert”? 

5. Who was John Wesley Powell and what important facts did he bring 

to light? 

6. What is irrigation? Explain the ways in which dry land is irrigated. 

7. What was the Carey Act? Name and locate some important irriga¬ 

tion projects. 

8. What good results have come from irrigating the dry land of the 

West? 


CHAPTER XIX 


TWO LEADERS IN THE POLITICAL LIFE OF THE 
NATION AT THE CLOSE OF THE CENTURY 

I 

GROVER CLEVELAND AS A POLITICAL LEADER IS A MAN OF 

COURAGE 

Returning now from the Great Plains and mountain 
regions of the Far West, we will follow the story of those 
great American leaders whose lives must help us all to be 
more loyal to our country and more earnest in giving it 
our best service. One of these men is Grover Cleveland. 

He was born at Caldwell, New Jersey, March 18, 1837, 
the son of a Presbyterian minister. When a boy he showed 
unusual qualities of mind and heart, and his father wished 
to send him to college. But the father died when Grover 
was fourteen, and he took a job in a grocery-store to help 
his widowed mother. 

Instead of feeling sorry for himself, this lad made the 
experience a means of growth. In later manhood he said 
it taught him how to deal with men, to appreciate their 
points of view and their motives, and to adapt his own 
actions to them. While selling goods in the grocery-store 

he was learning how to play a game that was far more diffi- 

299 


300 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


cult and important than baseball or football, and that was 
the game of life. 

Perhaps, also, helping to support his widowed mother and 
their large family made Grover stronger in purpose and in 

character. To those who knew 
him he certainly seemed much 
older than his age. We learn, too, 
that, while always faithful to his 
daily tasks, he was an earnest 
reader. He liked history better 
than anything else, although he 
enjoyed Byron and Moore, and 
could repeat from memory thou¬ 
sands of lines of their poetry. 

When he was eighteen his uncle 
persuaded him to take a place as 
clerk in a law office in Buffalo, and 
after four years’ practice as a lawyer he began his public 
career as assistant district attorney. In 1870 he was elected 
sheriff of the county, and in 1881 mayor of Buffalo. 

As mayor he was so fearless and energetic in perform¬ 
ing his public duties that his rise in public favor was rapid; 
he was elected governor of the State of New York in 1882, 
and President of the United States in 1884. 

When he entered the White House, in 1885, wishing to 
leave no doubt in the public mind of his serious purpose 
to serve the interests of the people, he said: “Public office 















TWO LEADERS 


301 

is a public trust/’ and he held to this motto throughout his 
notable public career. 

He was President for two terms, the first being 1885- 
1889, and the second 1893-1897. During both of his ad¬ 
ministrations he had to meet important problems, which we 
need not discuss now; you will learn about them later. They 
included the tariff, money questions, and labor problems. 

President Cleveland believed that a high protective 
tariff was not a good thing for the country, and declared 
himself in favor of a low tariff. He also advocated the 
single, or “gold,” standard as a basis of value for money. 

He was slow in forming a judgment on any of these 
questions, but when he had decided what course of action 
he should follow as a servant of the people, he was fearless 
in pursuing it, whatever the effect might be upon his own 
political future. 

At one time in his administration a strike seriously 
hindered the United States mails. It became national in 
interest, and the President believed it his duty to interfere. 
He said: “If it takes every dollar in the Treasury and every 
soldier in the United States army to deliver a postal card in 
Chicago, that postal card shall be delivered.” Soldiers 
were sent to Chicago to protect the mails and to stop the 
rioting and disorder, and the strike was broken. 

When nearing the end of his life, he said: “I have tried 
so hard to do right.” Guided by that steady purpose he 
left a worthy example for young Americans to study. 


302 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


II 


WILLIAM MCKINLEY HELPS THE CUBANS TO GAIN THEIR 

FREEDOM 

Following Cleveland’s second term as President of the 
United States, William McKinley came into office. The 
most important event of his administration was the war 

fW' '/ ^ ^ \ ,\ f with S P ain - He 

faced the national 
situation with 
firmness, although 
without question 
he was a man of 
peace. 

He was born 
at Niles, Ohio, in 
1843, the seventh 
of nine children. 
His father was an 
ironmaster, and 
early in life Wil- 

President McKinley at Quincy, Ill. 

“Whenever the Flag is assailed, the only terms we ever ham became ill- 
make with its assailant is unconditional surrender.” . 

terested in the 

ores of his State and in its manufactures. What he 
learned led to his making a special study later of the tariff 
problem. 

At seventeen he went to college, but before the end of 



























TWO LEADERS 


303 


his first year he returned home on account of poor health, 
and then took up teaching in a near-by town. 

Almost immediately the Civil War began, and he was 
one of the first boys of his town to enlist for three years in 
the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. Although so young and 
in poor health, from his very first engagement he commanded 
the attention and the respect of his officers. By the end 
of the war he had been promoted to the rank of major. 
That was an unusual record for a young man of twenty- 
two. 

After the war he studied law, and a year later was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar, settling in Canton, Ohio. In 1876 he 
was elected to Congress by the Republican party and 
served continuously for fourteen years. As leader of his 
party on the tariff question, he was appointed chairman of 
the committee which drafted the McKinley Tariff Bill. 
This was a highly protective measure and was passed by 
Congress. 

After serving two terms as governor of Ohio, in 1897 
he became President of the United States. In fulfilling the 
duties of his high office, he was honest and fearless; and 
this was especially true in the war with Spain, which be¬ 
gan during the second year of his administration. 

The Cubans Rise Against Spain 

The trouble with Spain grew out of her treatment of the 
people in Cuba. From the time of Columbus she had 


304 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


ruled the natives cruelly, and many times they had risen 
in rebellion. In 1895 there was an uprising that Spain 
could not put down. She sent over a governor-general who 
tried to starve the Cubans into submission. He burned 

the homes of 
the farmers who 
supplied food 
to the Cuban 
army, and 
dro ve them into 
towns and 
cities. By such 
inhuman treat¬ 
ment he not 
onlv weakened 
the army but 
put great suffer¬ 
ing upon civil¬ 
ians, who had 
/ 

no way of getting food. Thousands died, yet the Cubans 
would not yield. Their ciy was: “We will win our freedom 
or die!” 

This cruel warfare, going on so close to our shores, 
aroused our people, and as the war grew even more brutal, 
our government tried to induce Spain to bring it to an end. 
Before anything could be arranged, however, an American 
war-ship, the Maine, was blown up in the harbor of Havana, 



Cuban Refugees Under Spanish Rule. 


i 




TWO LEADERS 


305 



and 260 of our officers 
and seamen were killed. 

This happened on the 
night of February 
15, 1898. 

Man} r believed that 
it was the work of 
Spanish officials. The 
report of a naval court 
of inquiry after careful 
investigation showed 
that the ship was blown 
up by an explosion from 
the outside, but did 
not fix the blame. 

Americans were bitter 

in their resentment toward Spain. Feeling ran high. 
President McKinley did all he could to keep peace, but on 
April 25, 1898, war was formally declared by Congress. 


Copyrighted by J. F. Jarvis. 

President McKinley and Admiral Dewey Review¬ 
ing the Soldiers and Sailors from the Steps 
of the Capitol. 


Dewey’s Fleet Destroys the Spanish Fleet at Manila Bay 

Two days later, an American fleet of six war-vessels, 
under Commodore Dewey, steamed from a Chinese port 
southward toward the Philippine Islands, then a Spanish 
possession. In Manila Bay he totally destroyed the Span¬ 
ish fleet in an engagement which lasted but a few hours. 
Dew r ey’s war-vessels w r ere not seriously injured. 








306 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Cervera’s Fleet Is u Bottled Up ” at Santiago and Destroyed 

After the Spanish fleet at Manila was destroyed; there 
was no longer danger of attack from Spanish war-vessels on 
our Pacific coast; but news came that the Spanish fleet 

under Cervera, which had 
been stationed at the Cape 
Verde Islands, was sailing 
toward Cuba. 

Presently Admiral 
Cervera arrived at San¬ 
tiago, and an American 
fleet under the command of 
Commodore Schley block¬ 
aded the harbor to prevent 
his escape. While our fleet 
kept close watch at the 
harbor entrance, an Ameri¬ 
can army arrived at San¬ 
tiago to attack the city. On the 1st of July the Ameri¬ 
cans made a gallant advance through tropical forests upon 
its outworks, and won a decisive victory. It was in this 
battle that the “ Rough Riders/' under Colonel Theodore 
Roosevelt, won distinction by great bravery. 

The Spanish fleet now made a dash for liberty. At about 
half past nine on Sunday morning (July 3) the foremost 
Spanish war-vessel was seen heading at full speed out of 



American Troops Embarking for Santiago. 







TWO LEADERS 


307 


the harbor. When the American sailors saw what was 
going on they sent up a loud shout: “The Spanish fleet is 
coming out!” Then leaping to their places at the guns, 
every man eager to do his turn, they waited with breath- 



Camp of the Rough Riders at Daiquiri During the Spanish-American War. 


less interest the order to fire. Victory was easy and com¬ 
plete, due to the superior seamanship of the Americans and 
their mastery of the guns. Every one of the Spanish war- 
vessels was destroyed, 600 Spaniards were killed, and 1,800 
were captured. Not one American ship was seriously in¬ 
jured, while but one American sailor was killed. With 
nothing to hope for from the fleet, about the middle of July 
Santiago and the Spanish army surrendered to the Ameri¬ 
can forces. 





308 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



As a Result of the War, Cuba Is Liberated and the United 

States Acquires New Territory 

Spain accepted her defeat and was now willing to ar¬ 
range terms of peace. On February 6, 1899, a treaty was 


Judge Day, Secretary of State, Signing the Peace Protocol Between the United 

States and Spain, August 12. 1898. 

ratified by the United States Senate, in which Spain gave 

up all claim to Cuba, and ceded Porto Rico and Guam, a 

little island in the Ladrones, to the United States. She 

also ceded the Philippine Islands, in return for which we 

agreed to pay her $20,000,000. 

One of the most noteworthy results of the war was the 

%/ 

drawing together of the various sections of our country into 









TWO LEADERS 


309 


closer sympathy and union. Never before had the North, 
the South, the East, and the West felt so closely bound to¬ 
gether in thought, feeling, and purpose. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell what you can about the boyhood of Grover Cleveland. 

2. What was his motto when he was President? 

3. How did he show his courage at the time of the railway strike in 1894? • 

4. What do you admire about him? 

5. What kind of record did William McKinley make during his time of 

service in the Civil War? 

6. What important place did he fill in Congress? 

7. Why did the Cubans rise against Spain? What cruel methods of war¬ 

fare did Spain employ against them? 

8. Why did we go to war with Spain? 

9. Tell all you can about the two naval battles in which our boys de¬ 

stroyed two Spanish fleets. 

10. What were the most important results of the war? 





CHAPTER XX 


LEADERS IN A NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE AND 

INVENTION 

I 

THOMAS A. EDISON PERFORMS MARVELS IN ELECTRICAL 

INVENTIONS 

Many influences have been at work to put our nation 
in a position of power among the nations of the world. 
That position has come about not alone through great 
material wealth but through many scientific inventions. 

The age we live in is far different from that of ^ ar fore¬ 
fathers, and just as we revere their memory for winning our 
political freedom, so we must bow with respect to the great 
inventors of a later generation. They have freed us from 
the limitations of time and space, and have made us realize 
that we are living in an age of marvellous scientific achieve¬ 
ment. 

Many inventions that have greatly increased men’s con¬ 
trol of time and space and multiplied the comforts of their 
daily living have been worked out through the application 
of electricity. In developing these inventions no one has 
done so much as Thomas A. Edison, who has been called 
“the wizard” of the electrical world. 


310 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE. AND INVENTION 311 


He was born in Milan, Ohio, on February 11, 1847, his 
father being a farmer and also a dealer in grain and lumber. 
After sending Thomas to school for a few months, his mother, 
who had been a teacher before her marriage, decided to 



keep him at home and teach him herself; and that is all the 
teaching he ever received. 

While he was yet a mere lad the family moved to Port 
Huron, and when he was twelve he became a newsboy on 
the train running from that town to Detroit. Having a 
quick mind, a ready wit, and a pleasant way of meeting- 
people, his business grew, and he decided to enlarge it by 
publishing a paper. With a second-hand printing outfit 
in one end of a car intended for baggage, he set to work, 
and was so successful that his profits in a single year were 
about 8600. 

But even then this restless youngster was not satisfied. 






















































312 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


He was interested in chemistry, and got permission to set 
up a laboratory in the same car in which he published his 
weekly paper. Here he had test-tubes, flasks, bottles, and 
various chemicals. But one day, when the car gave a lurch, 
a stick of phosphorus fell to the floor and broke into flames. 
This set the car on fire. 

The conductor was so angry that at the next station he 
threw out the whole outfit, laboratory and printing-press 

as well; and worse even 
than that, he boxed the 
boy’s ears so soundly that 
Edison became deaf. He 
never recovered his hear¬ 
ing. 

But another day 
brought better fortune. 
While the train was stop¬ 
ping at Mount Clemens, the station-agent’s little boy, 
about two and one-half years old, was playing with peb¬ 
bles and sand between the railroad-tracks. The child was 
so busy that he did not see an uncoupled car which was 
rapidly approaching. In two or three seconds he would 
have been killed had not young Edison, then about fifteen 
years old, quickly dropped the papers under his arm and 
rushed to the rescue just in time. 

The station-agent felt so grateful that he offered to 
teach Edison how to operate the telegraph-keys, and also 



Edison’s Menlo Park Electric Locorro- 
tive, 1880. 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 313 



all that he himself knew about electricity. The offer was 
eagerly accepted by the ambitious boy, who not only wished 
to be a telegraph operator but to understand how messages 
went over the wire. 

By putting all his energy into the new task and working 
eighteen hours a day, within a year he was able to secure a 
position as telegraph operator. This was in 1863, when 
Edison was only 
sixteen. 

But his restless 
desire to experiment 
and to explore un¬ 
known fields kept 
him wandering dur¬ 
ing the next five 
years. He sought 
one position after 
another, till after 
a year in Boston, 
in 1868 he arrived 
in New York. 

All the time this 


Copyrighted by Keystone View Co. 

Thomas Edison at Work in His Laboratory at 
Orange, N. J. 


born inventor was working to improve the telegraph, and 
not long after reaching New York he was amazed by an 
offer from the Western Union Telegraph Company of $40,000 
for one of his patents. With the money thus received 
he was able to experiment on a larger scale, and to build up 
a manufacturing company of his own. 






314 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


His two most important inventions were lighting by 
electricity and the electric railway. He was also the in¬ 
ventor of the phonograph and of motion-pictures. He has 
taken out more than 1,000 patents, more than any other 
inventor ever took out in this country. 

It would not be possible to measure the value of Edi¬ 
son’s work; he has done marvellous things in his long and 
useful life. 

II 


ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL INVENTS THE TELEPHONE AND 
TAKES THE LEAD IN PERFECTING THE INVENTION 



Courtesy of American Telephone & Telegraph Company. 


On June 2, 1875, Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant, Thomas A. 
Watson, during some experiments, discovered the principle 
of the electric speaking telephone. 


Electricity has become a wonder-working agent in the 
service of mankind. It has been put to use in many ways 
and, as if by magic, has brought to pass things that would 
seem to be impossible. 

One of the most remarkable inventions is the telephone, 
by which the sound of the voice is transmitted over an 
electric wire. The man whom we should remember as 
































































































































































LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 315 



having done most to make the telephone successful is Alex¬ 
ander Graham Bell. 

One day a great thought came to him. Why could not 
sound vibrations 


just as well as light 
or heat vibrations be 
carried by electric 
wires ? 

The idea was de¬ 
veloped in a novel 
way. The father of 
one of Bell’s pupils, 
who wished to assist 
him, made it pos¬ 
sible for him to 
have a workshop in 
Salem, fifteen miles 
from Boston, where 
he carried on ex- 

• , , • -I. The Inventor of the Telephone, Alexander Graham 

periments at Illgnt Bell, Opening the New York-Chicago Long Dis¬ 

tance Telephone Line, October 18, 1892. 

for three years. 

Thrilled with the idea of breaking a new path in the 
realm of science, he used to call up his friend at any 
hour of the night to test his signals. Each slight success 
filled him with joy, and the failures only made him try 
harder. 

Finally the telephone was finished in time to take its 




316 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


place in the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. 
It attracted wide attention and was rapidly adopted. 
Within a few years it had a large use in business offices and 
homes, where it has proved of untold value. Talking by 
telephone between cities hundreds, or even thousands, of 
miles apart is now simple and easy. 

The Wireless Telegraph and the Wireless Telephone 

Even more wonderful than messages by wire are mes¬ 
sages by air without the aid of wires. This is possible both 
by the telegraph and the telephone. Wireless telegraphy 
was invented by Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian. Its suc¬ 
cessful operation was effected in 1896. Since that time it 
has been possible to have instant communication, without 
the use of wires, between places thousands of miles apart. 

On January 18, 1903, from the wireless-telegraph sta¬ 
tion at Wellfleet, on Cape Cod, President Roosevelt sent 
to King Edward of England the first wireless message across 
the Atlantic. The first wireless-telephone message was sent 
across the Atlantic in 1915. 


Ill 

SCIENCE AND INVENTION LEAD TO GREAT IMPROVEMENTS 

IN AGRICULTURE 

Nowhere has the advance of science and invention been 
more marked than in agriculture. By the help of science 
the farmer can find out what kind of plant-food the soil of 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 317 


his farm contains, and how to enrich the soil by using the 
right kind of fertilizer. With this knowledge he can be 
sure of harvesting abundant crops, provided there is suffi¬ 
cient rainfall or good irrigation. 

Inventions which save labor in breaking up the soil and 
in harvesting crops have been equally helpful to him. By 
cheapening the cost of production, they have greatty low¬ 
ered the price of wheat, 
corn, and other kinds of 
food which grow on the 
farm. 

The farmer of to-day 
has many other advantages 
over those who tilled the 
soil a century ago. There 
are good roads in all parts 
of the country over which 
produce can be easily carried to market. Millions of dollars 
have been spent to build them and keep them in repair. 
Good roads, quick sendee, and convenient markets mean 
greater ease and comfort for those who live on farms. 
Automobiles and trucks by the hundred thousands are now 
in constant use by farmers throughout the country, and for 
those who do not own automobiles the trolleys give good 
sendee in reaching shopping centres. 

With improved roads and automobiles, there is also 
daily mail sendee, by rural free delivery, which carries mail 







318 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



almost to the farmer’s door. He is thus kept more closely in 
touch with friends through correspondence and with what 
is going on in the world through his daily newspaper. 

Still another 
agency, the tele¬ 
phone, gives him 
easy communica¬ 
tion with neighbors, 
and also with more 
distant friends. In 
many ways the 
farmer lives a 
broader, if not 
larger, life than 
his great-grand¬ 
father, who was to 

a great extent cut off from close contact with any but those 
of his own family. 


Farmer Listening to Market and Weather Reports on 

Radio. 


IV 

LUTHER BURBANK IS A PLANT WIZARD 

The science of agriculture has advanced not only by 
enrichment of soil and inventions of new machinery but in 
a most surprising way by a process of perfecting seeds and 
of creating new forms of plant life. The result has vastly 
increased the amount of food production. 





LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 319 


O 


The man who has done more than any other in this field 
of science is Luther Burbank. From earliest childhood 
days flowers and plants were to him playmates and com¬ 
panions, and with increasing years his devotion deepened 
almost, to a passion. 

During sum¬ 
mer vacations 
he worked in his 
uncle’s plough 
factory in 
Worcester, Mas¬ 
sachusetts, and 
was always a 
good worker, but 
he longed for an 
outdoor life, and 
took up market¬ 
gardening and 
seed-raising in a 
small way. This 
was the begin¬ 
ning of his won¬ 
derful career in the breeding of plants. His first experi¬ 
ment to attract public attention was the Burbank potato, 
which has produced, in money-value, more than $20,000,000. 

After many years as a successful nurseryman, Luther 
Burbank gave up the business in 1893 in order to devote 



, 1 m 

Luther Burbank. 














































































320 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


himself to plant-breeding, which had, by degrees, become 
an absorbing interest. His purpose was twofold: (1) to 
increase the quantity and improve the quality of food for 

men and animals, and (2) 
to make the world of. plants 
and flowers more beautiful. 

The energy and earnest¬ 
ness with which he set to 
work soon produced re¬ 
markable results. The 
reports of his wonderful 
productions of fruits and 
nuts and of flowers and 
plants read like fairy-tales. 
Who, for instance, before 
Burbank, ever imagined 
cobless corn, stoneless 
plums, or seedless grapes ? 
And can we be thinking 
straight when we talk about white blackberries ? He 
also has produced a blackberry-plant which is so large 
that it will bear more than a bushel of berries in a single 
season, and a strawberry-plant that will bear strawberries 
through the whole summer. 

His most marvellous achievement, however, is the spine¬ 
less cactus. In its natural form the plant grows in enor¬ 
mous quantity on vast, dry plains where almost nothing else 



Burbank’s Spineless Cactus Slab, with 
Fruit in Stages of Ripening. 





LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 321 


will grow, but countless spines, thorns, and needles make it 
useless to man or beast. 

Burbank began experimenting with various kinds of 
cactus with the double purpose of breeding out all the spines 
and needles and thorns and of increasing the size of the 
plant as well as improving its fruit. 

After ten years of patient effort and skilful selection 
and cross-breeding he was rewarded with the stupendous 
satisfaction of beholding outside the picket fence surround¬ 
ing his home a giant cactus, eight feet high, with great 
leaves ten to twenty inches long, six to twelve inches wide, 
and an inch or more thick. And not a spine, thorn, or 
needle was on branch or leaf or fruit. 

This new cactus was the marvellous creation of Luther 
Burbank’s brain and hand. It supplies excellent food for 
man and forage for cattle and poultry. Moreover, where 
cows have been fed upon it a marked increase in both the 
quality and the quantity of milk has resulted. 

When we call to mind the important fact that in the 
West there are millions of acres of arid land which produce 
almost nothing but cactus, we realize how greatly this crea¬ 
tion of Luther Burbank will increase the supply of food 
and forage in this country alone. But since the area of 
arid and desert land in the world exceeds by 6,000 square 
miles the entire area of the United States, the benefit is 
impossible to compute. 

Said Mr. Burbank, when speaking of this vast increase 


322 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


in the world’s food-supply: “The population of the globe 
may be doubled, and yet, in the immediate food of the 
cactus-plant itself and in the food animals which may be 
raised upon it, there would still be enough for all.” 

It is given to few men to do so much for their generation. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. How have inventions helped to make our age different from preced¬ 

ing ages? 

2. What kind of boy was Thomas A. Edison? 

3. Name some of his important inventions, and explain how they have 

affected our ways of living. 

4. What do you admire about him? 

5. What great thought came to Alexander Graham Bell one day? 

6. How has his invention affected our lives? 

7. What do you admire about him? 

8. What is wireless telegraphy? Tell some of its uses. 

9. How have labor-saving inventions aided the farmer? Name other 

advantages which the farmer of to-day has over those who tilled 
the soil a century ago. 

10. Tell as much as you can about Burbank’s wonderful creations in 

plant-breeding. 

11. What marvellous transformation has he made in the cactus-plant? 

12. What do you admire in him? 


CHAPTER XXI 


RECENT LEADERS IN THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL 

LIFE OF OUR COUNTRY 

I 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT STANDS FOR THE “ SQUARE DEAL” 

With the opening of the twentieth century our position 
among the nations of the world had become one of great 
influence. This was due in a large measure to our remark¬ 
able increase in wealth and population. During the last 
thirty years of the nineteenth century our growth in agri¬ 
culture, industry, mining, and railroad construction had 
been enormous. Great changes caused by this growth had 
brought with them many big problems. The most promi¬ 
nent leader in solving them was Theodore Roosevelt. 

As a Boy Roosevelt Fights for Health 

He was born October 27, 1858, in New York City, one 
of four children, two boys and two girls. In later years he 
wrote, “My father was the best man I ever knew”; and of 
his mother he said: “She was a sweet, gracious, beautiful 
Southern woman.” For both of them the boy had a deep 
affection. 

323 


324 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



Since his father was a man of wealth, Theodore did not 
have the handicap of poverty against which some of our 
American boys had to struggle in rising to leadership. 

But he had an up¬ 
hill fight with a 
worse enemy, poor 
health, for as a 
child he was frail 
and delicate, and 
from his early years 
suff ered keenly from 
asthma, which often 
kept him from 
sleeping, except as 
he was propped up 
in bed. 

To help over¬ 
come the weakness 
of Theodore’s con¬ 
stitution, his father fitted up a gymnasium in the Roosevelt 
home, and said to his son: “Theodore, you have the brains, 
but brains are of comparatively little use without the body. 
You have got to make your body, and it lies with you to 
make it. It’s dull, hard work, but you can do it.” And 
Theodore began the fight. 

His memory was good, and he was a great reader. 
Through books he lived gloriously with the knights and 


The Dresden Literary American Club which 
the Roosevelts formed while abroad. 

From left to right: Theodore Roosevelt, aged 14§ 
years; Elliott Roosevelt; Maud Elliott; Corinne 
Roosevelt; John Elliott, July 1, 1873. 











RECENT LEADERS 


325 


heroes of other days, and revelled in the old ballads and 
stories of adventure. His imagination was fired, and he 
longed, like the warriors of old, to do great deeds. He 
learned that heroic men must be strong in body as in will, 
since they must be ready to endure endless toil and hard¬ 
ship, and face death, if need be, without shrinking. 

He entered Harvard in 1877 and was graduated in 1881, 
a few months before he was twenty-two. 

Before this time his father had died, leaving him suffi¬ 
cient property to enable him to live in comfort without 
working. But Theodore Roosevelt could not live a life of 
idleness and selfish ease. He believed that he should use 
his strength and money in service for the welfare of others 
as well as for himself, and he chose to go into political life. 
In 1881, the year that he left college, he won his election 
to the New York legislature, where he served for three suc¬ 
cessive terms. 

In the Outdoor Life of a Dakota Ranch Roosevelt Seeks 

Robust Strength 

In 1883 Roosevelt had a return of asthma, and seeking 
a dry climate and a vigorous outdoor life, he went to the 
Dakota country. He wanted to hunt buffaloes and other 
big game, and to share the hard, rough experiences of the 
cowboys in the Far West. 

On reaching the Chimney Butte Ranch, which he had 
made arrangements to occupy, he found that the house 


326 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


consisted of only one room, with a table, three bunks, 
and three chairs. Later he bought the Elkhorn Ranch, 
about forty miles away, and built his own log house, 
where he could live in more comfort. 



Ui 


The glory of work 
and the joy of living” 
briefly sum up what 
ranch life meant to 
Roosevelt. The cow¬ 
boys were then inclined 
to hold in scorn the man 
who came from Eastern 
cities, and called him a 
“tenderfoot,” but they 
soon learned that Roo¬ 
sevelt was no “tender¬ 
foot.” He shot as well 
as their best marksmen; 
he was a good horse¬ 
man ; he shared the bad 
food and the dangers 
and hardships without 
complaint; and above all he was a man of unflinching 
courage. 

For a good part of every year for six years Roosevelt 
remained in the Dakota country and then returned to New 
York City with a vigorous body, a fearless spirit, and a 


Theodore Roosevelt, Twenty-one Years of Age, 
and His Brother Elliott Roosevelt, 

One Year Younger. 

Chicago, Jtily, 1880, on the way to a hunting- 

trip. 




RECENT LEADERS 


327 


ready mind, prepared to take up whatever duties might 
fall to his lot. 

Roosevelt Rises Rapidly from Civil Service Commissioner to 

the Presidency 

A call to public service soon came to him, for in 1889 
he was appointed on the Civil Service Commission; in 1895 
he became police commissioner in New York City; and in 
1897 he went to Washington as assistant secretary of the 
navy. While holding this office he took a keen interest in 
strengthening the navy, and set out to secure better marks¬ 
manship on the part of the sailors by giving them increased 
target practice. 

When the war with Spain broke out in 1898, he resigned 
as assistant secretary of the navy and raised a volunteer 
regiment of cavalry. His cowboy friends had not forgotten 
him. They rallied to his standard in such numbers that 
the regiment was known as the “Rough Riders,” although 
it included also men from Eastern colleges and from various 
walks of life. The “Rough Riders” so distinguished them¬ 
selves in the fighting in Cuba that at the end of the war 

4 

Colonel Roosevelt as their leader was a national hero. 

In 1898 he was elected governor of New York. Two 
years later he wished a re-election, but was persuaded by 
urgent demand from Republicans throughout the country 
to accept the nomination of the Republican party for vice- 
president. Being elected, he became vice-president in 


328 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


1901, and after the death of President McKinley in Septem¬ 
ber of that year, succeeded to the presidency. 

Roosevelt Champions a Policy of Irrigation , and Fights for 
the Preservation of Our Natural Resources 

Soon after becoming President, Roosevelt’s attention was 
called to the vast areas of the West that were waste land 
through lack of rainfall and of irrigation. In his first 
message to Congress he drew attention to the matter, de¬ 
claring, “The forest and water problems are perhaps the 
most vital internal problems of the United States,” and 
throughout his administration he continued most active in 
reclaiming arid areas by irrigation. Many large projects 
were started during his term of office as President. 

Closely connected with rainfall and irrigation is the 
preservation and extension of forests. To these problems 
President Roosevelt gave close and thoughtful attention. 
His belief was that our forests should not be wasted by pri¬ 
vate speculators for their own gain, as had long been the 
case, but that they should be preserved by the nation in 
the interest of the people as a whole. He therefore from 
time to time added to them large regions of forest-covered 
land, and also adopted measures to prevent destruction 
from forest-fires. Roads and pathways were cut through 
the national forests, and watch-towers and telegraph-lines 
constructed, making it possible for the forest-rangers to 
detect fires quickly and prevent them from spreading. 


RECENT LEADERS 


329 


Roosevelt Takes the Lead for Arbitration in Settling the 

Coal Strike of 1902 

Another important service that Roosevelt rendered his 
country was the part he took in the settlement of the coal 
strike of 1902. 

Roosevelt's position in 1902 toward the mine-owners 
and the workers in the mines was a good example of his 
attitude toward labor-unions and business corporations. 
He had a keen sense of right and fair play. As he himself 
said, he believed in the “square deal.” “The labor-unions 
shall have a square deal,” he said, “and the corporations 
shall have a square deal.” He insisted upon justice for the 
rich man and the poor man alike, declaring that each should 
come under the rule of law, reason, and right. 

Roosevelt Leads to the Construction of the Panama Canal 

Some historians believe that Roosevelt's greatest achieve¬ 
ment was the building of the Panama Canal, since to him 
more than to all others was due the completion of this won¬ 
derful engineering feat. For years thoughtful Americans 
had discussed the need of a canal across the isthmus which 
so narrowly separated the two oceans. After the close of 
the Spanish-American War, when we had gained possession 
of Porto Rico and had taken Cuba under our protection, 
the need of such a canal, to be built and controlled by our 
own people, was felt more deeply than ever. 


330 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



Long before definite steps were taken by our govern¬ 
ment toward realizing this project; a French company had 

attempted the con¬ 
struction of such a 
canal; but after the 
loss of $278;000;000 
and the lives of 
thousands of la¬ 
borers; it had given 
up the enterprise. 

Against power¬ 
ful opposition Presi¬ 
dent Roosevelt was 
able to secure the 
passing by Congress 
of the Isthmian 
Canal Act in June, 
1902. This law 
gave the President 
power to purchase 
the unfinished 
Panama Canal at a 
cost not to exceed 

$40,000,000, and also to acquire by treaty a strip of land, 
not less than six miles wide, extending across the isthmus. 
Within this strip, or zone, the United States was to con¬ 
struct, operate, and protect the canal. 


Front a painting by Thornton Oakley. 

Uniting the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

President Roosevelt, in 1906, personally inspected 
the Panama Canai work. 





RECENT LEADERS 


331 


In accordance with this law a treaty was made with 
Panama and $40,000,000 paid to the French company. 



Copyrighted by Underwood Sr Underwood. 

Theodore Roosevelt Reviewing American Troops Prior to Their Embarking for 

Europe in the World War. 

The work of construction was begun in 1904. In 1914 the 
Panama Canal was opened to the commerce of the world. 

Roosevelt as a Private Citizen 

Roosevelt’s presidency ended on March 4, 1909, but his 
influence was never greater than during the last few years 
of his life. Amid the issues arising from the World War 
he constantly aroused, by his stirring appeals, the loyalty 
of his fellow citizens. His death at Oyster Bay, on Janu¬ 
ary 6, 1919, brought deep grief throughout America. 





332 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


His patriotism was unbounded; and his sublime faith 
in the power and opportunity of his country for world ser¬ 
vice is beautifully recorded in the following sentence, in 
which he declares: “We here in America hold in our hands 
the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years, and 
shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of 
high resolve is dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden 
hope of men.” 

II 

FRANCES E. WILLARD DEVOTES HER LIFE TO THE CAUSE 

OF TEMPERANCE 

Women Fill a Large Place in Public Life 

One of the most striking features of this new age is the 
place that women occupy in public life, for they fill an im¬ 
portant part in industry, in the professions, and in the gen¬ 
eral work carried on for the people’s welfare. Since the 
days of the spinning-wheel and home manufactures the 
change has come about gradually. When the spinning- 
machine, the power-loom, and other large and costly ma¬ 
chines were set up in the factory, women followed, and did 
there what they had formerly done in the home. 

This meant more than a simple transfer of activity. It 
gave rise to a new situation, for as long as mothers and 
daughters had worked at home, they were not paid in 
money; but when they went into the factory to work, they 
became wage-earners. 


RECENT LEADERS 


333 


With freedom of industrial opportunity then followed 
advancement in public education. Women now have ad¬ 
vantages in higher education equal to those of men, and 
compete with them in many fields of service. Thousands 
of women are teachers in our high schools and colleges; many 
are college professors; others are lawyers and physicians; 
and some are filling political offices in city, state, and 
national government. 

Among the first women to be known by the whole na¬ 
tion was Frances E. Willard. She was born on September 
28, 1839, in Churchville, New York. 

When she was seven years old the 
family decided to go West, and in 
three white-hooded prairie-schooners 
they made a journey of four weeks to 
Wisconsin. There they settled on 
the beautiful banks of Rock River 
and built a simple dwelling, which 
they called “Forest Home.” 

The Willard children had few 
playmates because settlers were few and far between; but 
the household was a happy one, since all, old and young alike, 
enjoyed the free outdoor life in close touch with nature. 

Frances was fond of reading, and by the time she was 
fourteen had read all the books owned in the family, among 
them the Bible, plays of Shakespeare, “Pilgrim’s Progress,” 
and some biographies and histories. 



Frances E. Willard. 


334 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


It was fortunate for this active-minded girl that about 
that time a schoolhouse was built only a mile from her 
home. She attended this school for a year, then went for 
some months to another in the village of Janesville, near by, 
and after that spent a year in Milwaukee Female College. 
Here she did good work, and at nineteen entered North¬ 
western University, Evanston, Illinois, where she prepared 
herself for teaching. 

She was a gifted woman and enjoyed working with young 
people, but gave up her profession to join in a broader 
movement that was then engaging much public attention. 
It was the cause of temperance, and it is as a worker in 
that cause that she is best known to us. 

In 1874 she was secretary- of the Woman’s Christian 
Temperance Union—a national body—and five years later 
its president. In 1888 she was elected president of the 
World’s Christian Temperance Union. 

She was a good speaker and a hard worker. In one 

it 

year she travelled more than 30,000 miles, speaking in 
every state in the Union. During a period of twelve years 
she made one speech a day, on an average, allowing her¬ 
self only six weeks of rest in a year. She spent this in her 
quiet home—Rest Cottage—with her mother. 

Her life was one of unselfish devotion to others. She 
carried joy and inspiration wherever she went, touching 
hearts by her kindness and quickening hope in all who 
came under her personal influence. Said a cultivated South- 





RECENT LEADERS 


335 


ern woman, after hearing her speak: “The first time I heard 
her I lay awake all night for sheer gladness. It was such a 
wonderful revelation to me that a woman like Miss Willard 
could exist. I thanked God and took courage for humanity.” 

Such was the power of her remarkable personality that 
the eyes of the nation were opened to the great waste of 
the drink evil and to the poverty and suffering it caused. 
Temperance organizations continued the work she had so 
ably forwarded, and through their influence, after many 
years of unceasing effort, Congress in 1917 proposed an 
amendment to the Constitution, making unlawful the manu¬ 
facture or sale of intoxicating liquors. This amendment— 
the Eighteenth—became a part of the Constitution early in 
1919. 

Ill 

CLARA BARTON ORGANIZES THE AMERICAN RED CROSS 

The leader of another great movement, the American 
Red Cross, was Clara Barton. On Christmas Day, 1821, 
in Oxford, Massachusetts, was born the child whose life 
was to bring comfort into so many other lives. As a girl 
she was shy, and sensitive to all forms of suffering, but she 
was fond of daring sports, and could run and ride like a 
boy. “When five years old/' she said, “I rode wild horses 
like a little Mexican.” 

When only eleven, she had her first experience in that 
service which twenty-five years later became her life-work. 


336 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


At a barn-raising on her father’s farm, her brother David 
took a dare and climbed to the peak of the building to 
fasten the rafters to the ridge-pole. A board broke under 
his feet and, in falling, his body struck some heavy timbers. 

For two years he was a helpless 
cripple, and Clara was his tender 
nurse. During all that time the 
faithful little sister never left his 
bedside but for one half-day. 

At fifteen years she became a 
teacher in a public school, but after 
eighteen years of successful experi¬ 
ence she gave up teaching and took 
a position in the Patent Office at 
Washington, little thinking that 
this would lead to her great life- 
work. 

When the Civil War broke out, the first soldiers to arrive 
in Washington (April, 1861) were from Massachusetts, near 
Clara Barton’s old home. They had been attacked by a 
mob in Baltimore, and many were wounded, among them 
some that she had known in her girlhood days. In the 
letter she wrote home, she said: “We bound their wounds 

i 

and fed them.” Thus began her active service in the 
war. 

By her remarkable fitness for the work, she at once be¬ 
came the centre of relief in Washington. To her flocked 



Clara Barton. 

Civil War nurse and first presi¬ 
dent of the American Red 
Cross. 






RECENT LEADERS 


337 


the suffering and needy soldiers, and during the long, hot 
weeks of summer she collected, stored, and gave out sup¬ 
plies. She also went to the docks and met wounded sol¬ 
diers returning from the ranks, took them to the hospital, 
and bathed their neglected wounds. 

Not content with waiting at the docks, she wanted to 
go to the wounded soldiers on the battle-field and give aid 
as soon as possible after they had fallen. She could not 
bear to think that many must suffer and even die without 
care; but it was months before she could get permission 
from the government to go within the lines. When, after 
many rebuffs, she was at last granted passports, she was so 
overcome that she wept tears of joy. 

From then until the war ended she gave herself unspar¬ 
ingly to the wounded and dying on the battle-field. No 
demand was too great, no service was too small, if it brought 
comfort to the suffering soldiers. They called her “The 
Angel of the Battle-field.’’ 

When the war was over, she spent four years in trying 
to locate the 40,000 soldiers who were “missing.” She 
worked so hard that she had to take a rest, and she went 
to Europe. While she was there the Franco-Prussian War 
broke out, and she was sought by the leaders of the Inter¬ 
national Red Cross to help in the work of mercy, for the 
fame of her labors in the Civil War had gone before her. 

Again she became “the angel of the battle-field,” and her 
slight figure, in plain dark dress, was a familiar sight in 


I 


338 LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 

the war region. She might be easing a fallen soldier; she 
might be making her way through the shattered streets of 
stricken cities; or she might be entering bombarded houses 



From a drawing by F. C. Yohn. 

The Red Cross in War-Time. 

and villages to seek out the starving, half-clothed women 
and children. She was always engaged in some service of 
love and sympathy. 

Believing that the United States should join in the work 
of mercy in which twenty-two nations were already actively 
organized, she came home with the hope of accomplishing 
that end. It did not happen all at once, but through her 
influence the American Red Cross was organized in 1886, 
and she became the first president. 





RECENT LEADERS 


339 


We all know the emblem of the Red Cross, and we 
know it stands for gentle, loving, and skilful service to 
suffering humanity. Victims of pestilence, famine, earth¬ 
quake, floods, and other calamities have reason to love it, 
but its greatest work has been for the soldier on the battle¬ 
field. There the wounded, far from the tender ministries 
of home, are gathered in the arms of mercy and tended by 
faithful nurses of the Red Cross, which has been called 
“the greatest mother in the world/’ 

Clara Barton died in 1912, but the great work she or¬ 
ganized has continued to grow under other leadership, and 
to be supported always by loyal workers. 

IV 

ANNA HOWARD SHAW BECOMES A LEADER IN THE WOMAN 

SUFFRAGE CAUSE 

A third great movement in which women took the leading 
part was the woman suffrage cause. Well-known pioneers 
in this movement were Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and 
Miss Susan B. Anthony. For very many years these two 
women worked together with lasting results for the good of 
the cause they loved so well. In 1868 they united in pub¬ 
lishing a newspaper favoring woman suffrage, and in the fol¬ 
lowing year they founded the National Woman’s Association. 

These lifelong friends were well adapted to supplement 
each other’s work, for while Mrs. Stanton was strong as a 
writer, Miss Anthony excelled as a business manager. 


340 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


When, however, the two veteran workers had become 
less active by reason of advancing years, other leaders took 
their places. One of these was Anna Howard Shaw. Born 
in Scotland on February 14, 1847, Anna Howard Shaw 

came at four years 
of age, with other 
members of the 
Shaw household, to 
America, where 
their first home was 
in New England. 

When Anna was 
twelve, the family 
joined the westward 
movement, and, 
making the journey 
in an ox-cart, settled 
in northern Mich¬ 
igan in an old log cabin a hundred miles from any railroad 
and six miles from the nearest neighbor. The cabin had a 
big fireplace made of mud and stones, but there were only 
holes in the walls for windows and doors. 

There were no books except the few the family had 
brought with them, and these Anna read and reread until, 
as she said, she knew them all by heart. 

She liked to wander into the woods and stay for hours, 
reading and thinking and dreaming about what she would 



Many Families Joined the Westward Movement to 
New Country. 






RECENT LEADERS 


341 


do when she became a woman. One day when she re¬ 
turned, her father rebuked her, saying: “A girl who will 
run away to the woods and stay all day is of no account. 
I suppose we shall never be able to do anything with you. 
You are the black sheep of the family. ” 

Deeply hurt ; Anna replied: “Some day you will take all 
that back. I am going to study and study, and some day 
I shall go to college. And when I am through I shall make 
money—lots of money. I shall be worth $10,000.” 

After ten years of strenuous work she entered Albion 
College, in Albion, Michigan, when she was twenty-five. 
Although she had but eighteen dollars at that time, when 
she was graduated she had earned enough by lecturing and 
preaching to pay for her college course. 

Still wishing to be a preacher, she became a student in 
the Theological School of Boston University. Since there 
was not the same opportunity of earning money by lecturing 
and preaching that she had found in Michigan, she lived on 
milk and crackers for weeks at a time, her hunger never 
satisfied. “In my home in the wilderness,” she said, “I 
had often heard wolves prowling around our door at night. 
Now, in Boston, I heard them even at high noon.” But 
neither hunger nor loneliness could daunt her spirit. 

She finished her course in the university and a little 
later took up her duties as preacher at two churches on 
Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 

Although successful in her work as preacher, the field 



342 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


of her service was too small. She wanted to minister to the 
bodily as well as to the spiritual needs of her .people, and, 
before the end of her seven years of service on Cape Cod, 
she had taken the degree of M.D. in Boston University. 

While attending the medical 
school she had been a volunteer 
physician and nurse in the Boston 
slums. What she saw while on 
duty there led to the latest ex¬ 
pression of her life-work. The 
changed conditions affecting 
women, in vast and ever-increas¬ 
ing numbers, as wage-earners, 
had developed new problems. 
The more she thought about 
these new problems, the more 
confident she was that women 
should work side by side with 
men in solving them, and to do 
this they should share equally with men the responsibilities 
of citizenship. In other words, she believed that women 
as well as men should be allowed to vote at the polls. 

With her mind clearly made up on this question, she 
was easily persuaded by the great leader of the Woman’s 
Rights Movement, Susan B. Anthony, to devote her life to 
the cause of woman suffrage, or “ the Cause,” as she called 
it. From 1892 to 1904 she was vice-president of the Na- 



Doctor Anna Howard Shaw. 

She was preacher at two churches 
on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 


















































RECENT LEADERS 


343 


tional American Woman Suffrage Association, and from 
1904 to 1915 its president. Under her leadership the move¬ 
ment made rapid and steady progress. It was her crown¬ 
ing work. 

Her life was a happy one, her friendships were many, 
and her honors were great; but she always regarded her 
labors in the cause which was so near her heart as the best 
and most satisfactory part of her career. In her own 
words one may say: “Nothing bigger can come to a human 
being than to love a great cause more than life itself, and to 
have the privilege throughout life of working for that cause.’ 7 

Wyoming was the first state to vote full suffrage to 
women. By degrees the movement grew, and many other 
states followed Wyoming in giving to women the same 
voting privileges as men. At last Congress proposed an 
amendment to the Constitution, providing for full suffrage 
for women in all the states of the Union. In 1920, the year 
after Doctor Anna Howard Shaw died, this amendment— 
the Nineteenth—became a part of the Constitution. 

V 

WOODROW WILSON IS LEADER AND SPOKESMAN FOR 
AMERICA IN THE WORLD WAR 

Our position as a world-power, which was due partly 
to our success in the war with Spain and to the growing 
value of our natural resources, was emphasized by the 
events of the World War. 



344 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Many thoughtful people in America and in other coun¬ 
tries had come to hope and believe that there would never 
be another great war; that differences arising among nations 
would be settled by peaceful methods. But in the summer 
of 1914 there broke out in Europe the most terrible war of 
all histoiy. On the first day of August, Germany declared 
war upon Russia and two days later upon France. Within 
ten days seven nations had sent their armies to the field 
of battle—Germany and Austria on one side, and Russia, 
France, England, Serbia, and Belgium on the other. 

Although the battle-ground was in Europe, before the 
struggle ended nearly every civilized nation of the world 
was taking some part in it, and many million men, women, 
and children lost their lives. 

When the war began, Woodrow Wilson was the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. Up to that time his life, except 
when he was governor of New Jersey, had been largely that 
of a scholar, but he had shown also that he could fight for 
a cause, and now the people looked earnestly to him for 
leadership. 

Woodrow Wilson Prepares for Leadership 

This son of a Presbyterian clergyman was born on De¬ 
cember 28, 1856, at Staunton, Virginia. Two years later 
the family moved to Augusta, Georgia. 

* 

From boyhood, he and his father were always good 
comrades, and the home life did much to aid the boy’s 


RECENT LEADERS 


345 


mental growth. Gathered about the fireside in the eve¬ 
ning, the family read together good English novels and 
other books of value. 

While a student at Princeton he took a lively interest 



Copyrighted by Brown Brothers. 


Woodrow Wilson, President of Princeton University, with Professor William 

Libbey and Andrew Carnegie. 


in many college activities, including athletics and debating, 
and was prominent in the student body. On graduating, 
he studied law in the University of Virginia, and won a 
prize in oratory, but after two years of practice in Atlanta, 
he gave up law to become a teacher. He took a special 
course in Johns Hopkins University, where he received the 




346 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


degree of Ph.D., and then made a brilliant reputation as a 
teacher of history and economics. In 1890 he was called to 
be a professor at Princeton, and twelve years later he was 
elected president of that university. 

As a popular speaker on problems of government, he 
attracted the attention of leaders in the Democratic party, 
and was elected governor of New Jersey in 1910. In this 
new field of public service he showed such ability as a leader 
that in 1912 he was elected President of the United States. 

President Wilson Faces Difficult Problems at the Beginning 

of the World War 

The World War was the outcome of a struggle for power 
in which Germany was trying to make herself mistress of 
the world. There had long been strained feeling between 
the Central Powers of Europe, that is, Germany and Aus¬ 
tria, and what was called the “ Triple Entente/’ which in¬ 
cluded England, France, and Russia. But the immediate 
cause was the assassination in Serbia of the Austrian crown 
prince. On August 4, 1914, the powerful German army 
marched into Belgium because the easiest and quickest route 
to France passed through that country. The plan of the 
Kaiser and his generals was to conquer France, and then 
unite all their forces in a resistless attack upon Russia. 

Before any great battle was fought, President Wilson 
issued a proclamation in which he advised all American 
citizens “to act and speak in the true spirit of friendliness 


RECENT LEADERS 


347 


to all concerned.' 7 This he believed was in accord with 
the polic}^ which our country had always followed. 

But bound up as our interests were in a thousand ways 
with our neighbors across the sea, their struggle was sure 
to affect us sooner or later. It was not long after the be¬ 
ginning of the war that England tried, 
by blockade, to prevent goods from 
reaching Germany either through her 
own ports or those of other countries 
that traded with her. Germany, in 
turn, declared that she would destroy 
all enemy vessels in the waters around 
the British Isles. 

These blockades threatened to de¬ 
stroy much of our foreign trade, but 
they led to worse and unthought-of 
eviis; for Germany, in February, 1915, began to use sub¬ 
marines, the first time that destructive vessels of this kind 
were used in war. Within three months she torpedoed 
many vessels, among them passenger-ships of the great 
ocean lines, and some of these ships belonged to neutral 
countries. 

In the face of such destruction of life and property, our 
government sent a note to Germany, earnestly declaring 
that the United States would hold her “ strictly account¬ 
able" if any American vessel should be destroyed or any 
Aanerican lives lost. 





348 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


Yet during the next three months Germany sunk Ameri¬ 
can vessels and destroyed American lives. On May 7, 
1915 ; the Lusitania, an English passenger-ship; was sunk 
without warning on her way from New York to Liverpool. 
Of the 1; 154 who lost their lives, 114 were Americans. 

President Wilson, still wishing to avoid war, sent the 
German Government an emphatic note of protest, calling 
attention to the law of long standing among the nations 
that no merchant or passenger ship could be sunk at sea 
without warning and without providing for the safety of 
passengers and crew. 

On August 19, 1915, another passenger vessel, the 
Arabic, was torpedoed, with the loss of two American lives. 
This time, in answer to our protest, Germany replied that 
her submarine commanders had been ordered to make no 
attacks in future upon neutral merchant vessels which would 
endanger the lives of passengers and crews. 

After a lapse of less than a year and a half, however, 
Germany reversed this policy, and on January 31, 1917, 
gave notice that she would begin the next day to sink at 
sight, and without trying to save the lives of crews and 
passengers, all vessels she' might find in extensive areas 
named by her, north and west of Europe and in the Medi¬ 
terranean Sea. 

Without further delay President Wilson dismissed the 
German ambassador at Washington and recalled our am¬ 
bassador from Berlin. • 


RECENT LEADERS 


349 


Yet war did not follow at once. Not until about the 
middle of March, when it became known that Germany had 



Photograph by C. V. Buck , copyrighted by Underwood & Underwood. 

President Wilson Delivering His War Message to Congress, April 2, 1917. 


torpedoed three American vessels and had destroyed three 
American lives, was hope of peace entirely given up. 

Our Country Enters the War 

At a joint session of the Senate and the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives, held on April 2, President Wilson read a mo¬ 
mentous message, in which he said, in effect, that Germany 
had forced us into war by first making war upon us. She 
had injured our commerce; she had destroyed our property; 



















350 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 



she had taken American lives. Congress therefore declared 
war upon Germany on April 6, 1917. 

The war in Europe had been going on two years and 
eight months. Turkey and Bulgaria were now fighting on 


f Launching of S. S. Tacoma. 

In July, 1918, our shipyards produced over 631,000 tons of shipping. 

the side of Germany and Austria, while Italy and Roumania 
had joined England, France, and Russia. Millions of hu¬ 
man lives had been lost, but the victory was not won, and 
the armies of Germany and Austria were still powerful. 

Although our army and navy were too small to be of 
great service on the fighting-line, there were certain other 
things we could do in co-operating with the Allies, as 
England, France, and the countries fighting on their side 







RECENT LEADERS 


*51 


were called. For instance, we could lend money, furnish 
war-supplies, send raw materials for workers in mills and 
factories, and food for all. We could also build merchant 
ships in large numbers, and we could assist in fighting the 
submarine. 

Of all the needs of the Allies, that of building ships 
was the most pressing, for without ships they could not 
receive supplies. It was for this very reason that the 
Germans were attempting by submarines to destroy all 
shipping. 

By the summer of 1918, 550,000 Americans were building 
ships, and in the month of July our shipyards produced 
over 631,000 tons of shipping. This was a remarkable 
output. 

Six weeks after war was declared, Congress passed the 
Army Draft Bill as the first step toward raising an army. 
About 24,000,000 men in all, between the ages of eighteen 
and forty-five years, were registered during the war. From 
these the government selected and trained 4,000,000 men 
for service in the American army. In the navy, in the 
marine corps, and in other forms of military and naval 
service there were about 800,000 more. 

The Kaiser and his generals believed that American 
troops could not reach France in time to be of much use. 
But before the war ended 2,000,000 of our troops were in 
Europe, and we were sending them across the sea at the 
rate of 250,000 a month. 


352 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


American Soldiers Help to Fight the Germans and to End 

the War 

Not long after reaching the front, our boys met the 
Germans in Belleau Wood, where the enemy was making 
a grand assault aimed at the capture of Paris. The Ger- 



Copyrighted by Kadel Gr Herbert. 


American Troops Resting After Their Arrival in France. 

mans were only forty miles away from the French capital 
when American soldiers and a brigade of American marines 
held them up. The engagement, known as the battle of 
Chateau-Thierry, began on June 2 and lasted almost a 
month. 

Although outnumbered—three, four, and at times even 
five to one—our boys fought stubbornly, week after week, 






RECENT LEADERS 353 

until by the end of June (1918) they had driven every Ger¬ 
man soldier out of Belleau Wood. 

This battle of Chateau-Thierry has been called the turn¬ 
ing-point of the war. The heroic fighting of the American 


Allied Troops Transporting Ammunition to the Guns in the Somme Country. 

marines and the American soldiers in Belleau Wood has 
never been surpassed in all history. 

Within three weeks Marshal Foch, who had been placed 
in supreme command of all the allied armies, began (July 18) 
a series of tremendous attacks which did not end until Ger¬ 
many was defeated. 

By the last of September the German armies were in 
full retreat, and in these last months of the war the 
American troops again fought bravely. They had to push 






354 LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 

their way through the Argonne Forest and cut the rail¬ 
road in the rear of the Germans to prevent the enemy 
from getting food and other supplies. For forty-seven 
days a terrible struggle went on, but our boys won a de¬ 
cisive victory. 


From a pai)iti)ig by F. C. Yohn, 

Allied Cavalry Cutting Out a German Gun in a French Village. 

In this battle, the greatest ever fought by American sol¬ 
diers, our army lost in killed, wounded, and missing more 
than 100,000 men. During the war our losses were nearfy 
303,000. 

On November 11 an armistice was signed, and the Ger¬ 
mans surrendered their armies and fleets. German mili¬ 
tary power was completely broken. The Kaiser, forced to 





RECENT LEADERS 


355 


give up his crown, escaped to Holland. Thus fell the 
German Empire. It was quickly followed by a republic. 

During the war American valor, tested on a foreign 
field, had won deserved praise. Our boys surpassed the 
highest expectations, and not only our lives are made safer 
but our memories richer by their brave deeds on the fields 
of France. 

The Whole Nation Earnestly Strives for Victory 

In time of war all who work for the good of the country 
are in a way soldiers. All can be at least loyal citizens, 
doing the duty that lies nearest them. In this war the 
whole nation was striving for victory. Farmers, business 
men, railroad operators, mechanics, unskilled laborers, and 
women and children were all enlisted in loyal service. 

The American Red Cross did a wonderful work. You 
have learned elsewhere in how many ways this splendid 
organization relieves suffering. During this war it reached 
its largest usefulness, and.drew into its service huge numbers 
of workers, who longed to express their loyalty to the cause 
and to their country. 

American boys and girls were no less loyal than our 
men and women. They saved money to buy thrift stamps; 
they sold thrift stamps; and they took their part in the 
Liberty Loan campaigns. They cheerfully denied them¬ 
selves certain kinds of food needed overseas. They planted 
and cared for millions of war gardens and thus raised food 


356 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


worth many million dollars. The girls also joined their 
mothers in making bandages for soldiers and garments for 
the thousands of French and Belgian children who had 



Government Officers Superintending the Assembling of the Liberty Motors. 


been driven from their homes in regions laid waste by the 
war. 

The war cost the American people $22,000,000,000, or 
more than $1,000,000 an hour for a period of more than two 
years. Besides this amount expended, we loaned England, 
France, and their allies $10,000,000,000. 

Our country played a large and worthy part in winning 
this war. As a people we were more united than we had 
ever been in any other war, and at its close America was 
fulfilling an important service to the world. 








RECENT LEADERS 


357 


Let us hope that our moral greatness may equal our 
material power and that we may prove worthy of our trust. 
We can all help to do this by obeying the laws, by always 
standing for justice and fair play, and by doing, day by 
day, in an unselfish spirit, the duties which belong to all 
patriotic Americans. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about Theodore Roosevelt’s boyhood. How did his 

reading influence his life? 

2. Why did he go out to the Dakota country to live on a ranch? 

3. What did Roosevelt do for irrigation and for the preservation of our 

natural resources ? 

4. What did he say about the “square deal,” and what did he mean? 

5. Explain the leading role he played in the construction of the Panama 

Canal. 

6. Memorize the sentence in which he records in a beautiful way his sub¬ 

lime faith in the power and opportunity of his country for world 
service. 

7. What do you admire in Theodore Roosevelt? 

8. What changes has the new age brought about in the life of women? 

9. Tell all you can about the hard work of Frances E. Willard. 

10. What did a cultivated woman say about her? 

11. What was her great life-work? 

12. Tell about Clara Barton’s nursing her brother when she was a young 

girl. 

13. Why did she feel that she must go to the battle-field and aid the men 

who had fallen there ? 

14. What can you tell about the great work of the American Red Cross, 

of which Clara Barton was the first president? 

15. Give an account of Anna Howard Shaw’s girlhood days. 

16. What hard experience did she have while a student in Boston Uni¬ 

versity ? 

17. Do you understand why she decided to devote her life to the cause 

of woman suffrage? 


358 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


18. What do you admire in her? In Clara Barton? In Frances E. Wil¬ 

lard ? 

19. What countries in Europe at first took part in the World War? 

20. Tell all you can about Woodrow Wilson’s boyhood; also about his 

experience before being made President. 

21. For what purpose did Germany make use of submarines? How did 

her submarine polic}^ lead to war between her and the United 
States ? 

22. What four things could we do in co-operation with the Allies at the 

time we entered the war? 

23. What was the selective draft, and how many men were in the Amer¬ 

ican armies before the end of the war? 

24. Explain the remarkable things our country did in building new ships. 

In transporting soldiers across the Atlantic. In winning victories 
on European battle-fields. 

25. Name some important results of the war. 


CHAPTER XXII 


THE HERITAGE OF AMERICAN BOYS AND 

GIRLS TO-DAY 

The foregoing chapters show clearly the great advance 
that we as a people have made in material wealth. But 
far more important is the using of that wealth in such a 
way as to help every citizen in the land to make the most 
he can of himself. 

Discoveries in the field of medicine and public hygiene 
have taught us how to keep well and to develop our bodies. 
We have learned that we must eat pure food, breathe fresh 
air, exercise freely, and get plenty of rest and sleep. As a 
means to insure this end, the school department in many 
cities has employed trained nurses who look after pupils in 
school, and even go to their homes to advise their mothers 
how to keep the children well. This is done in the hope of 
preventing human waste. 

In the interests of child welfare most of our states 
have passed compulsory-education laws and child-labor laws, 
which will give the children a chance for growth and pre¬ 
vent them from becoming wage-earners at too early an 
age. 

For training and informing the mind and for develop- 

359 


3G0 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


ing right ideals of duty and service, the American people 
have made lavish provision in their schools, colleges, and 
universities. No other people have spent money so gen¬ 
erously for the education of their children. In some states 
a complete system of tax-supported education makes it 
possible for boys and girls to begin at the kindergarten 
and continue through the college and university with little 
cost to themselves. 

In the last forty or fifty years, under the direction of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, much attention 
has been given to special training for life on the farm. 
There are more than sixty agricultural colleges in the whole 
country, and also model farms and experiment stations in 
agriculture in every state in the Union. 

Another movement is that which favors vocational or 
trade schools—that is, schools which give special training 
for modern industry. These are intended for those who 
do not wish to take the higher courses in college and uni¬ 
versity. 

Just as noteworthy has been the extension of the higher 
education for women during the past fifty years. Women 
now have educational advantages equal to those of men, 
and have entered upon many occupations which until after 
the Civil War were closed to them. Women are doing more 
than they ever did before in the many forms of social wel¬ 
fare and public service, which make for a finer and better 
community life. 



AMERICAN BOYS AND GIRLS OF TO-DAY 361 


Much has been done also for the care and training of the 
weak and helpless members of society. We have many in¬ 
stitutions for the blind, the deaf, and mental defectives. 

There is special instruction also for foreign-born adults 

V 

who have come to our land. The aim is not only to teach 
them to speak and write English but to give them training 
in American customs and ideals and the duties of citizens 
in this great, free country. 

Our social settlements, boys’ clubs, boy scouts, girl 
scouts, Young Men’s Christian Association, Young Womens 
Christian Association, and many other organized groups 
open the door of opportunity to all who are willing to re¬ 
ceive training and uplift. In almost countless ways, many 
of which were unknown one hundred years ago, kindly and 
sympathetic workers are giving friendly aid to those who 
will thereby be made better men and women. 

Thus has our material wealth been used to make life 
better and more agreeable for us all. 

Before leaving this story of our country I wish you 
would each think for a moment about the contrast between 
the comforts and opportunities of your life and those of the 
boys and girls of early colonial days. Their ways of living 
were very simple. In their homes, for example, they read 
by candle-light, and even, perhaps, helped to make the 
candles. You move a switch and your page is flooded with 
a bright, clear light. They had to run to the spring for 


362 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


water and fetch it in a pail. You turn a faucet and a 
stream of water gushes forth. 

How different also were their methods of travel and 
communication! A jaunt through the woods on horse¬ 
back, or by sloop along a watercourse, was a long way to 
go to meet a friend. The lumbering stage-coach was tedious 
and expensive for a journey of greater length. Time and 
thought had to be given to the making of such visits. How 
is it with you? Interurban trolleys, express-trains, auto¬ 
mobiles, and flying-machines await your pleasure. 

Joy had to wait on patience when news from far-away 
friends was sought. By horse and foot it came with the 
slow methods of travel. Your letter can be carried a thou¬ 
sand miles by rail in perhaps a day; your telegraph message 
can be delivered in a few hours; or you can talk over the 
telephone almost without delay. 

Think, too, of broadcasting the tones of the human 
voice, in speech or song, so that countless people in hundreds 
of cities, towns, villages, and country homes can hear almost 
as distinctly as though the speaker or the singer were in 
the same room! To those other boys and girls who listened 
mostly to the tones of church-bells, this wonderful experi¬ 
ence, now so commonplace to us, would have seemed 
unbelievable. 

When we read our morning or evening paper we learn 
the principal events that have taken place in any part of 
the civilized world within twenty-four hours. The tele- 


AMERICAN BOYS AND GIRLS OF TO-DAY 363 


graph, the telephone, the express-train, and the flying- 
machine make possible this rapid gathering of news. It 
requires but a day or even less to learn of important events 
occurring in distant lands and to get news which a century 
ago required many months. 

Compare, also, our schools and those of colonial days. 
You would find it hard to give up your well-equipped and 
costly buildings, with their large, light, and airy rooms, for 
the one-room log cabins, without even a blackboard. If in 
imagination you will go into one of those one-room schools 
and look around, you will notice how few the books, how 
hard and uncomfortable the seats, how frosty in winter 
must be the window-panes, and you will feel grateful, per¬ 
haps, for the blessings you enjoy. 

How wonderful would the motion-pictures seem to boys 

and girls of a hundred years ago! With what surprise 

% 

would they see men and women of distant lands and of 
other times flitting across the screen, just as all appeared 
in days long gone by. 

You are, indeed, living in a wonderful age. You have 
comforts and opportunities undreamed of by Washington 
or Lincoln and other great makers of our republic. These 
have come to you through the sweat and toil of self-sacri¬ 
ficing inventors and numberless workers of an earlier time; 
and they are your heritage from the past. 

What will you do with this heritage? Will you accept 
and enjoy it without thought of its meaning? It all comes 


364 


LATER AMERICAN HISTORY 


to you without effort on your part; but where much is 
given, much, also, is required. This is the law of life. If 
you would make the most of yourself, you must obey this 
law in what you think, in what you say, in what you do. 

You owe the best that you have and the best you can 
do to your school, your community, your state, and your 
country. Although you may not be able to do great things, 
you can be honest and true, and by doing well whatever is 
worth doing, you can make yourselves useful citizens. Y r ou 
can be loyal to your flag, to your country, and to your own 
highest ideal, always remembering that a great and good 
nation is made only of great and good men and women. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Do you see clearly why it is extremely important for us to so use our 

material wealth that all Americans may make the .most possible 

of themselves and their opportunities? 

# 

2. Why have many cities employed trained nurses? 

3. What is the leading purpose of compulsory-education laws and child- 

labor laws ? 

4. In what ways have the American people made generous provision for 

the education of their children and young people? Why have 
they done this ? 

5. What is meant by the heritage of American boys and girls? 

6. Are you trying to appreciate this heritage? Are you also trying to 

appreciate the wonderful opportunity you enjoy as a citizen of 
this great, free country? 

7. In what ways can you be a patriotic American? 


INDEX 


Adams, John, 26, 27 

Adams, Samuel, 15-28, 31, 32, 37 

Alamo, 211-213 

American Red Cross, organization of, 
338; work in World War, 355 
Anna, Santa, 211, 214 
Anthony, Susan B., 339 
Antietam, battle of, 257 
Appomattox Court House, Lee’s sur¬ 
render at, 253 

Argonne Forest, battle of, 354 
Atlanta, captu^ of, 268 

Backwoodsmen, life among, 110-116 
Barlow, Joel, 190 
Barton, Clara, 335 
Bell, Alexander Graham, 314 
Bon Homme Richard (bo-nom'-re- 
shar'), 91-93 
Boone, Daniel, 94-106 
Boone, Squire, 98 
“Boston Tea Party,” 21-25 
Brandywine Creek, 64 
Bull Run, battle of, 258 
Bunker Hill, battle of, 41-44 
Burbank, Luther, 319 
Burgoyne (ber-goin'), General, his 
invasion, 63-66 

Cabinet, the President’s, 156 
Calhoun, John C., 225-227, 235, 236, 
239, 240 

Camden, battle of, 74 
Carson, Kit, 216, 217 
Cedar Creek, battle of, 273, 274 
Chateau-Thierry, battle of, 352 
Cherokee Indians, 100, 124, 129, 208- 
210 

Civil War, 250-280 


Clark, George Rogers, 132-149 
Clark, William, 175-180 
Clay, Henry, 227-231, 235, 238, 239, 
240 

Clermont, 191-193 
Cleveland, Grover, 299 
Clinton, DeWitt, 196 
Colonies become States, 52 
Compromise, Missouri, 234, 235 
Compromise of 1850, 238-240 
Concord, battle of, 36-40 
Confederate States of America, or¬ 
ganization of, 251 

Congress, Continental, first meeting 
of, 26-28; second meeting of, 41 
Congress, United States, 69, 154, 205, 
206, 237 

Continental Army, 41 
Cornwallis, General, 60, 62, 71, 80-85 
Cotton-gin, invention of, 158, 159, 
234 

Cowpens, battle of, 80 
Creek Indians, 184, 209 
Cuba, freedom of, 308 
Custis, Mrs. Martha, 46 

Davis, Jefferson, 251, 257 
Dawes, William, 33, 35, 37 
Declaration of Independence, 51, 52 
Dewey, Admiral George, 305 
Donelson, Fort, 265 
Dorchester Heights, 50 
Douglas, Stephen A., 250 

Early, General, at Cedar Creek, 
273 

Edison, Thomas A., 310 
Emancipation Proclamation, 252, 280 
Erie Canal, 195-198 


365 


366 


INDEX' 


Ferguson, Major, 128 
Fitch, John, 188 
Flatboat, 171, 187 
Florida, purchase of, 185, 188 
Foch, Marshal Ferdinand, 353 
France aids the Americans, 66 
Franklin, Benjamin, 52, 66 
Fremont, John C., 214-220 
French villages, old, life in, 140, 141 
Fulton, Robert, 188-193 

Gage, General, 26, 30-32 
Gates, General, 74 

George III, 1, 2, 10, 18-20, 25, 40, 60 
Gettysburg, battle of, 261, 262 
Gold, discovery of, in California, 221- 
224 

Grant, Ulysses, 262-268, 271, 272, 
275-277, 279 

Greene, Nathanael, 73-86 
Guilford Court House, battle of, 84 

Hale, Nathan, 56-58 
Hamilton, Alexander, 156, 157 
Hamilton, Colonel, 143, 144, 149 
Hancock, John, 31, 32, 37 
Hayne, Senator, 237 
Henderson, Richard, 100 
Henry, Fort, 265 

Flenry, Patrick, 4-13, 47, 134, 166, 
167 

Hessians, 60-62 

Hill, James J., 288 

Houston, Sam, 208-214 

Howe, General, 41, 42, 50, 51, 53, 64 

Hutchinson, Governor, 21, 22, 24 

Independence of the United 
States, 85 
Irrigation, 295 

Jackson, Andrew, 180-185, 209, 210, 
237 

Jackson, Thomas J. (“Stonewall”), 
258, 259 
Jay, John, 157 

Jefferson, Thomas, 52, 164-172 
Johnston, Albert Sydney, 265 


Johnston, Joseph E., 267, 268 
Jones, John Paul, 87-93 

Kaskaskia (Kas-kas'-ki-a). 136-140 
Kentucky, 96-105 
King, Clarence, 281 
King’s Mountain, battle of, 128 129 
Knox, Henry, 62, 156 

La Fayette (La fa-yet'), 67-69 
Lee, Robert E., 253-257, 275-279 
Lewis and Clark’s Expedition, 175- 
180 

Lewis, Meriwether, 175-180 
Lexington, battle of, 36, 37 
Liberty Loan campaigns, 355 
Lincoln, Abraham, 243-250; and 
slavery, 250-252; and the Emanci¬ 
pation Proclamation, 252; assas¬ 
sinated, 253, 254 
Lincoln, General, 73 
Livingston, Chancellor, 154 
Livingston, Robert R., 191 
Long Island, battle of, 53-55 
Louisiana Purchase, 170-173 
Lusitania, sinking of, 348 

McClellan, General, 257 
McKinley, William, 302 
Mandan Indians, 176 
Manila Bay, battle of, 305 
Marconi, Guglielmo, 316 
Marion, Francis, 81-84 
Meade, General, 261 
Mexican Cession, 220 
Mexican War, 220 
Minutemen, 30, 40 
Missouri Compromise, 234 
Mohawk Valley, 64, 65 
Monroe, James, 172 
Morgan, Daniel, 78-80 
Morse, Samuel F. B., 201-207 

Napoleon I, 172 
National Road, 194, 195 
Negroes, 159-163, 233-238 
New Orleans in 1803, 173-175 
Nullification, 236, 237 


INDEX 


367 


Old North Church, 33 
Old South Church, 23-25 

Pacific Railroads, 285-290 
Pack-horse, 187 

Panama Canal, construction of, 330 
Partisan warfare in the South, 81 
Pitcairn, Major, 36, 37 
Pitt, William, 9 

Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 265 
Powell, John Wesley, 294 
Prescott, Samuel, 35, 37 
Prescott, William, 43 
Protective tariff, 235-238 
Provincial Congress, 30, 31 
Putnam, General, 53 

Railroad, 198-201 
Randolph, Edmund, 157 
Republican Party, 243 
Revere, Paul, 25, 33, 37 
Revolution, causes of, 1-4, 9, 10, 
18-26 

Robertson, James, 107-110, 116-121 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 306, 323 
Rotch, Benjamin, 21, 23, 24 
“Rough Riders,” 327 
Rowe, John, 24 
Rumsey, John, 187 

Santiago, Battle of, 306 
Scott, General, 237 
Secession of South Carolina and ten 
more slave States, 251 
Seminole Indians, 185 
Serapis (se-ra'-pis), 91-93 
Sevier, John, 122-131 
Shaw, Anna Howard, 340 
Shelby, Isaac, 128 

Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan in, 271- 
274 

Sheridan, Philip H., 271-274 
Sherman, William Tecumseh, 267-271 
Sherrill, Kate, 125, 126 
Shiloh, battle of, 265 
Slavery, 159-163, 233-238 
Smith, Colonel, 36, 37, 38 


Sons of Liberty, 18 
South Carolina, 236, 237 
Spanish-American War, 305 
Stamp Act, 1, 6-10 
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 339 
Steamboat, 187-193 
Steel, 289-291 

Stephens, Alexander H., 251 
Stuart, J. E. B., 259-261 
Sutter, Captain, 218-221 

Tariff, 235-238 

Taxation of the Colonies, 1, 6-8, 10, 
21-25 

Tea, tax on, 21 
Telegraph, 201-207 
Telephone, invention of, 314 
Tennessee, 116-131 
Texas, 209-214 
Tories, 17, 138 

Treaty at close of Revolution, 85 
Trenton, victory at, 60-62 

Valley Forge, sufferings at, 69-71 
Vicksburg, capture of, 262, 266, 267 
Vincennes, 140, 143, 144, 148, 149 

Warren, Joseph, 32, 33 
Washington, D. C., made the na¬ 
tional capital, 157 

Washington, George, in the Revolu¬ 
tion, 41, 44-71; as President, 151— 
153 

Watauga, 116-131 

Webster, Daniel, 231-233, 237, 238, 
241, 242 

West, Benjamin, 190, 206 
Whitney, Eli, 158, 159 
Wilderness Road, 100, 117 
Willard, Frances E., 333 
Wilson, Woodrow, 344 
Wireless telegraph and telephone, 316 
World War, 344, 346; entry of Unit¬ 
ed States into, 350; armistice, 354 

Y orktown, Cornwallis’s surrender 
at, 85 


















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